How to choose the right tool for your making your software ?

I need some suggestions on how to go about choosing the right tools - language, framework, API, platform etc for personal projects. I know that I have to understand the requirements correctly to begin with.
But, requirements can change or one might realize that one chose the wrong set of tools in the beginning. From a sea of tools, most of which seem okay, how does one select the right set ?

Example of this dilemma -
http://www.coderanch.com/t/606704/java/java/Job-Scheduling-Java-tips-suggestions

Hmm, evaluating the tools themselves isn't always the best way of doing it. There might be a framework that does exactly what you need, elegantly, but if the community sucks, you don't know anyone else who uses it, and no one's ever heard of it, then it won't do you much good. When I just need to get stuff done, I stick with technology and languages that I already know, or that a friend recommends because they know it.

Save the crazy new stuff for weekend projects, right?

As for timers, I have no idea. Did you end up finding something that worked?

I usually check out any existing alternatives. Then I ensure the alternatives deliver all I want to achieve. The I check the number of downloads, ratings, comments if any. The I check for forums to see what other developers have experienced. Then I form my own gut feeling and take a decision.

I learnt this the hard way when I attempted to write my own CSV parser. Pretty straight forward right? Cell values are separated by commas (after all its a CSV file) and rows will be separated by new lines. What can possibly go wrong with this logic?
http://secretgeek.net/csv_trouble.asp (not mine, but a representative of the pitfalls)

Maneesh Godbole wrote:I usually check out any existing alternatives. Then I ensure the alternatives deliver all I want to achieve. The I check the number of downloads, ratings, comments if any. The I check for forums to see what other developers have experienced. Then I form my own gut feeling and take a decision.

I learnt this the hard way when I attempted to write my own CSV parser. Pretty straight forward right? Cell values are separated by commas (after all its a CSV file) and rows will be separated by new lines. What can possibly go wrong with this logic?
http://secretgeek.net/csv_trouble.asp (not mine, but a representative of the pitfalls)

Yeah,I was thinking too. What could go wrong ? Its just commas after all :|

Rule #1 of just about everything:

It's harder than you think.

Bear Bibeault wrote:Rule #1 of just about everything:

It's harder than you think.

Rule #2, it will take longer than you think even if you take Rule #1 into account.

Pat Farrell wrote:Rule #2, it will take longer than you think even if you take Rule #1 into account.

Also known as Hofstadter's_law, first mentioned in writing in one of my favorite books, Gödel,_Escher,_Bach.