3 replies to this topic

[akrolite]

Hi, I was wondering if any senior developers could answer my question. I have limited programming experience but I am looking to build a PDF reader.

1. How long would a simple PDF reader take to program from scratch? All I want to do is for it to be able to read PDF files. Would 1 programmer be able to build it within a month? What are the skills required to accomplish this?

2. How long would it take to build a simple browser with a search bar that access Google.com and searches the same thing, and then extracts the information from the search results into pure text? I want to create an application that can search something on the web and then extract certain text/information.

Also, what are the legal implications behind this?

3. Can you use Flash with C? I really like Flash because you can create interactive visualizations that run smoothly. Is this possible to add in a computer program application?

[WingedPanther]

1) Have you looked at the PDF specification yet? How much of the functionality do you want to support?

2) With the right libraries, less than an hour. No legal implications.

3) Flash's programming language is ActionScript.

[akrolite]

1. i just want the basic functionality
2. where can i find the libraries for this?
3. can i implement a flash animation though into an application?

thanks!

[WingedPanther]

1. You still need the PDF file format spec.
2. wxWidgets, for example, can do this pretty easily.
3. In general, yes. The details will vary widely depending on the language/tools you are using.