What should i do for my 4th yr project??

j_lennon

Im in 3rd year doing computing now and over the summer i want to get a start on my 4th year project. Any ideas on what i should do???

Course content that I have covered in my course to date is: Software development in Java, C++ and Visual basic, Oracle Database, SQL, Multimedia, Software/System Design and Testing, UML, Web design, JSP, JavaScript/JavaBeans, Cisco, Network systems, Discrete Mathematics, Logic, Distributed Systems.

I know i will be learning new stuff in college next year and i dont mind learning a new topic over the summer.

Any help would be great!! Even point me in the right directions.

Cheers
Stephen

Keedowah

Thats going to be a really tough decision - best thing to do is think of something that wont bore you to death after a few weeks.... When i picked my project i remember thinking - hwo the f am i going to do this! But i am really glad i went for it - you will get more ouot of it. My advice - pick something difficult, new to you and not boring!

Any area that interests you?

tommycahir

How about:

Proposed Title:
Open Source Web-Based Reporting System.

Description:
This tool will have two distinct user communities: end-users and programmers.
End-users will use this tool via a modern web-based GUI to create and execute reports against
existing RDBMSes, such as MySQL and Oracle. The results of executed reports will appear
within a standard web browser. Upon selecting a database to work with, the tool dynamically
determines the tables used within the database, together with the number and type of fields that
comprise each table. This information is then displayed to the end-user to enable the
specification (creation) of a web-based report. Reports can be saved, edited later, and executed
at any time (via a web-based GUI).
Programmers will use this tool via an appropriate programming API to execute previously
created reports within a web development environment. Support for execution via the Common
Gateway Interface (CGI) is required.
A requirement of this project is to publish the resulting system on the SourceForge site and
solicit feedback from the Open Source Community.

j_lennon

Keedowah wrote:

Thats going to be a really tough decision - best thing to do is think of something that wont bore you to death after a few weeks.... When i picked my project i remember thinking - hwo the f am i going to do this! But i am really glad i went for it - you will get more ouot of it. My advice - pick something difficult, new to you and not boring!

Any area that interests you?

A game would be an interesting thing to do. I think a few 4th yrs this year done java games for mobile phones. Im really opened to anything. Your right about doing something that wont bore me. What did you end up doing?

Keedowah

Created an app that would create photomosaics.

For third year I worked on a multiplayer game. Made it with a friend.

The game was really fun and i would defo suggest having a go at doing one if that interests you. But I wouldn't think - "i'll make a game for mobile phones." - concentrate on the game - come up with the plan first - and if it suits the mobile platform - then go for it.

I think a load of people in the year after me made apps for mobile phones just because they could.

btw - what college you in?

j_lennon

Im in IT Tallaght. The one thing putting me off doing a game for a mobile is beacuse everyone does that. i want something different. thats the reason im planning it all now. I might try a few things over the summer and then choose which one i like best.

Keedowah

Sounds like a good idea. If you were going to try and get a headstart on the project over the summer - try and get someone in 4th year now to give you a copy of their project schedule - that'll give you an idea of what the college is looking for. I'd spend the majority of the summer on research / documentation (UML etc). Oh - and look into Design Patterns if you havn't already.

Why not post idea's of what your tinking about. When you have whittled down your list - you could have a vote here...

Keep us posted.

[CrimsonGhost]

An SGF (http://www.red-bean.com/sgf/) editor for mobile java devices, for Go (http://senseis.xmp.net/). SGF files can also store other game records too though.
Allow the loading, editing and saving of SGF files (plain text game records), which can then be taken to a computer and loaded up and worked on their to.

Khannie

j_lennon wrote:

A game would be an interesting thing to do.

Games never get above a 2:1 grade (edit: in the final year of a degree course) unless they have a massive academic aspect to them. I know this because I was considering doing one myself and got advice from lecturers.

My advice: If there are interesting external projects, grab one. External projects nearly always do well.

I did something similar to you. Spent the summer months planning my project and ended up nailing this sh*t out of it (got a 90% grade). Here's how I came up with my project: Needs an academic focus of some sort. Should use some up-and-coming technolgies. Should be difficult.

Last piece of advice: Although I got a very high grade, the extra effort of getting a very high grade cost me in exhaustion. I was totally burned out when exam time came. Be wary of that.

Good luck.

bpmurray

Remember that you can get a lot of good job-hunting points too if you do something that fits into one of the company competitions stuff. For example, using the Eclipse/OpenSource stuff for IBM could potentially get you a laptop, and will get you noticed by the IBM folk, something that can't hurt in a year's time when you're finished.

One thing to avoid like the plague is any of the boring, ubiquitous projects like the cinema booking system. God! If I ever see another one of those it'll be way too soon. Do something original, something that's cutting-edge, something that's cool and make sure it works.

Here's a tip: start your project as soon as you can - that way you can add bells and whistles when all those around you are only starting.

sailorfoley

My advice would be to try and do something that is a bit different as your lecturers are probably seen the same crappy websites / games / database apps a thousand times. Come up with something original.

E.g. Invent your own computer language and create a compiler for it or create an OS for a mobile phone. Something different.
Another thing is you could taking a technology that is in development and implement it from the spec e.g. any of the WS specs that are out there.

Just a thought....

MrPinK

Google Summer of Code

Plenty of ideas there

Khannie

nice link there pinky