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Hello everyone. I am new to programming. I have a year of schooling under my belt. I am trying to build a program and need some advice. If this is in the wrong area, please bump and let me know where I should post this.
I want to have a GUI that will have several pulldowns that a user can select a particular characteristic. As the user selects these different characteristics an area will display different part numbers that share similarity with the characteristics selected.
I could really use some direction in where I should start. I have a basic knowledge in C++ and none in databasing.
Hope someone would be kind enough to assist! I don't need someone to write code, just be a mentor type to help me through this.
Thanks!
3 replies to this topic
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#2
Posted 21 August 2009 - 07:25 AM
ZekeDragon
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Writes binary right handed and hex left handed
Well, first off, I'd let the board itself "mentor" you. You'll have to write everything, but whenever you're confused or stuck on something come here and the people can help.
The first thing you should do is choose a language, which will probably be C++. The second thing you'll want to do is grab a pen and some paper, and draw out with simple shapes and connections how you want the program objects to interact and such. You won't get anything absolute from this process, but what it will give you is a general idea of what you're trying to accomplish and how the underlying logic will work in the program. Remember the one object - one responsibility rule, so in a lot of cases these objects should be pretty simple. As you go through it, think about how you want the UI to look and feel, since the program is about how the user is going to use it, that's probably the most important part of the program itself. That should tell you how to structure the objects.
And yeah, after you've got a decent map of what you want to make (it SHOULDN'T be complete, there's no way you can foresee everything you're going to need to worry about), find what kind of widget toolkit or GUI library you're going to use and write each class one at a time and test them individually. Then use them to build on top of each other and you'll have the start of a decent program!
The first thing you should do is choose a language, which will probably be C++. The second thing you'll want to do is grab a pen and some paper, and draw out with simple shapes and connections how you want the program objects to interact and such. You won't get anything absolute from this process, but what it will give you is a general idea of what you're trying to accomplish and how the underlying logic will work in the program. Remember the one object - one responsibility rule, so in a lot of cases these objects should be pretty simple. As you go through it, think about how you want the UI to look and feel, since the program is about how the user is going to use it, that's probably the most important part of the program itself. That should tell you how to structure the objects.
And yeah, after you've got a decent map of what you want to make (it SHOULDN'T be complete, there's no way you can foresee everything you're going to need to worry about), find what kind of widget toolkit or GUI library you're going to use and write each class one at a time and test them individually. Then use them to build on top of each other and you'll have the start of a decent program!
Wow I changed my sig!
#3
Posted 21 August 2009 - 08:20 AM
WingedPanther
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A spammer's worst nightmare
If you go with C++, you will also need to decide how you want to handle GUI and database stuff. Windows API, wxWidgets, gtkmm, Ultimate++, FLTK, etc are all possibilities for the GUI. You'll have similar options for database stuff.
Once those decisions are made, the rest will depend on them. wxWidgets dropdown menus are handled somewhat differently from gtkmm, which are somewhat different form Ultimate++, QT, etc.
Once those decisions are made, the rest will depend on them. wxWidgets dropdown menus are handled somewhat differently from gtkmm, which are somewhat different form Ultimate++, QT, etc.
#4
Posted 23 August 2009 - 06:42 PM
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Just about every language could do this. If you know C++ then use that. Otherwise, put a bunch of languages on a piece of paper and mix them in a hat. Stir the hat and draw one out. Bam, you have your language.
