newbie- what language to create my program?

[lockmac]

Hi guys. I am wanting to build a program and have the idea of what i want the program to do, im just unsure what language would be the best.

Basically, i want to build a program (and it would be implemented through a touch screen) that can be used whilst doing weight training. In this program, you will be able to select the person doing the weights and put in how much weight they did and how many reps, depending on what exercise they did.

I am just wandering, whats the best language to do this in? I am sort of a newbie but not really- i understand the fundamentals of java (learnt at uni) but havnt been taughts GUI's yet in java.

I am the type of person who loves learning by doing. Anotherwords, although this program might sound too complicated for me to try, i dont care how long it takes and will eventually get it i think.

So should I stick with Java and learn GUI's?

Also.. whats the best way to store the data? Text files? Excel? Databases?

Any help would be great thanks guys!

 

[esun]

If you're comfortable with Java, you can use an IDE to make a GUI very easily (basically drag+drop kind of interface) such at NetBeans.

As for data storage, a database would be best (and easy to interface with Java). However, if you don't want to learn how to interface a database, a plaintext file should work given the description of the program.

 

[aceO07]

You could probably just do your program as a web app using PHP/.net/Rails and a database(mysql/postgres). The UI would be a lot easier than learning to do it in Java. Central database, fast, accessible from any PDA/laptop with wireless.. You could also do a web app using Java/servlets/jsp, but it's a beast with several heads to tame. Since you're a newbie, I'd suggest going the easiest route and than redoing your project in a 'tougher' language as you gain experience.

Of course this really depends on your requirements and personal goals in this project.

 

[lockmac]

Thats an idea. I am quite good at programming PHP and CFM with databases, and would easily be able to do this. Migth think about this- i just like the idea of it actually being a program rather than a web app (e.g. the User Interface is somethnig big i wanna go for, such as the menu bars and everything looking like a windows application).

Ill think about this. thanks mate

 

[Journer]

.net would be simple and has tons of built in code for database manipulations and what not, look into LINQ

 

[degibson]

Visual Fortran.

The above is a joke 🙂.

Seriously: You'll need to investigate your platform. If your platform ends up being a PC with a touchscreen, you can use almost anything. Simpler gadgets, however, often have language constraints.