Question about developing software. How do you decide what to program?

When I see the amazing amount of absolutely useless software available everywhere and the very silent precious ones you have been seeking for ages, I think there is no ROI to consider when developing a software.

If your software fills a need, it will target the required audience. At the moment, I "try" to develop some specialized tools to fill gaps that no other edito can fullfil. MVDB is an amazing tool which also fills a gap in the need of a bunch of people and might become famous with the time.

I take some proud in developing these useful tools even though they target a few people as

1) I learn a lot with the help of this community 

2) they simply work

3) I can maintain them easily even after a while without having seen the code of a specific project

4) I am not a developer but still I can make an application

5) on the long term, I may target a larger audience using what I learned with the smallest projects

   
Hi tcoton,
   
I agree about the useless software. A product that I was thinking of doing is password software. So I downloading a lot of them with high ratings from download.com. They were all terrible. The worse thing about them was they were very user unfriendly. I think a new user shouldn't have to works too hard to use the software. Also, I agree about what you said about doing "tools".
   
And, about the community here.... I'm starting to feel more and more at home here. I think the people I've come into contact with are extremely nice and helpful.

And sure you're a developer If you can get things done and have the right tool, you can do whatever you want. And I have to admit, the MVD is really a great piece of software.

Man ! Jumper, you're really enjoying your MVD time aren't you

(sorry if the expression is not fully English, I'm not native...)

Anyway, your idea is interesting. I would add that we probably focused on our "own interests and/or needs" until now at least, and that we could be complementary on a  common project.

Now, if we want to follow that path, we need volunteers,  an idea, or a gap to fill  and an efficient mean of communication. Would I dare add an SVN for committing code and revisions ?

Let see what the others will answer but, on a free time basis for a start, if we can find a common project / idea, you can count me in.

Why not start with what we focused our MVD time on until now ?

I mostly worked on scraping web pages. As there is no HTML parsers yet incorporated to MVD, I code functions to get info from web pages , and I then store them in database and display them on form : kind of a easy/fast cataloguing tool if you want, because the user does not have to enter all info by hand, it's all automatic.

I also love nothing more than finding a way to nest SQL Queries to avoid writing a first one, and then have to fire a second one with variables and so on. My curious, stubborn and lazy side

Things like (which is not that complicated)

SELECT
    asset_req.req_asset_sku,
    asset_req.req_asset_name,
    asset.asset_name
FROM
    asset
INNER JOIN asset_req ON asset_req.id_asset = asset.id
WHERE
    asset_req.req_asset_sku NOT IN ((SELECT asset_sku FROM asset))
AND asset.id = 11
AND asset.asset_name LIKE '%A%'

Because I harassed Dmitry with that, he added HTTPGet and  HTTPGetFile to MVD, both for standard and secure http.

This guy is remarkable for his reactivity !

That's all for now, let see what the others might answer.

Cheers

Mathias

PS : I used to use BPM, mostly for decisional diagrams. The ease of use (external db connexion, expression writing, data mining...)  makes it a valuable tool

Hello Jumper, Mathias ans others

Idea of a collective work is interessant. Why Not ?
The stumbling block is to find a theme that is not redundant and and not to create indefinitely wheel.
With MVD, anyone can create an application in its own interests.
In my case, as I am retired and I do not program no more for my old company,
MVD I use for my own hobbies.
Thus, MVD has allowed me to create applications (not an industrial complex) for:
- Adress manager
- Software manager
- Book manager
- Wildflowers manager in France and Europe
- Birds manager in Europe and France (with photos,songs and videos)
- Comix manager
- Family inventory
- Family Health Book
- Songs birds managers (son associated with a picture)
- Medicinal plants manager (for a friend herborist)
- DVD manager
- Insects manager
- Dinos application (at the request of my granddaughter). For this latter application, I'll put more time because I want to create each dinosaur in 3D and make them move. I have to  found my old documentation Blender).
You may say that MVD is so easy to handle it is easy to quickly create a database manager. It is true that I feel comfortable with MVD.
In a collective work (especially with players scattered around the world), the hard part will be finding an original theme and design a friendly discipline. Since I spoke Blender, look at the collective team that has developed this amazing tool !
But the basic idea is very interesting. It will take only that all components are fully implemented in MVD functional (Treeview, possibility of working on canvas, colors and personalization facilities and other buttons and so on). And finally, to ask Dmitry what he thinks about. It might be thought that her child escapes him (which is when the sign that users have appropriated its creation).

To read you

JB

jean... I sent you a note, but don't know if I messed it up or not. If you haven't go a email in a while from MVD, send me an email message.

thanks

Hello all,

I found a very interesting article explaining Version Control here :

http://betterexplained.com/articles/a-v … n-control/

If you dig a little, this site is a GOLD MINE. Things like The Euler number, imaginary numbers and many many other things are explained really simply.

A happy reading, and a happy new year to all of you.

Cheers

Mathias