Where to start. and whether to generate stub or not?

[vaibhav mishra]

I have read , all of the Monkhouse book , several of the post around here and done a lot of little research to made sure I start right, but the only problem now for me is where to start , I don't know what thing to put first, May be the database classes, I also have one more question Roberto mention in some of his post that generating stub manually is not required, but my assignment specifically mention that
[code]
You must provide all classes pre-installed so that no dynamic class downloading occurs.
[code]

does that imply I must program my code to generate stub or am I misinterpreting anything.

[Roel De Nijs]

Hi,

I gave a small overview in this thread about how i handled the assignment. It could maybe help you a bit.

And generating stubs is not necessary since Java 5, but it is not allowed by the instructions. So I did generate the stubs, because I didn't want to automatic fail You don't have to write code for it, just use the rmic application (if you want to generate them).

Good luck with your assignment.
Kind regards,
Roel

[Roberto Perillo]

Howdy, Vaibhav!

First of all, I'd like to welcome you to the JavaRanch family!

Now, the first thing I'd tell you to do is start to draft a Data class. You can also take a look at a simple tool I created that reads the database file (you can find it here) so you can have an idea of how to do it.

And about generating stubs... I myself didn't generate it, and explicitly mentioned that in my essay exam. So, particularly, I believe it is not necessary, but that's just my opinion

[vaibhav mishra]

@Robert I indeed used your class to read my db file, I'll definitely start with data file and since they provide a interface to extend that would be nice to start , thanks for your suggestion, I asked this because I purchased my assignment almost a month back and it explicitly say the ;ine I mentioned, and I read in your post that you didn't generate it , so that's why I asked , it may be different between assignment, mine is B&S 2.1.1, that's why I am confused, sice it is possible to do it automatically via rmic, I'll try to use it to be on safe side.

@Roel Thanks for your suggestion , I read your article this morning , great score man , I indeed have few of these suggestions bookmarked (including Robert's) and they are invaluable source of information for me.

[Roel De Nijs]

vaibhav mishra wrote:
@Roel Thanks for your suggestion , I read your article this morning , great score man , I indeed have few of these suggestions bookmarked (including Robert's) and they are invaluable source of information for me.

Thanks! By the way I did it in the same manner: read a lot of these testimonials threads of those who passed and took some suggestions out and tried to implement/improve them.

Kind regards,
Roel

[Chris Bicnal]

Hi there Vaibhav,

Welcome to the forum!

I had exactly the same problem as you prior to starting the assignment, although I took a slightly different approach than the one being suggested.

As with any complex problem you need to break it down into smaller, manageable chunks. So with that in might I would look at your application from a 37,000 foot level first, and work down (slowly!) before diving in with implementation of the Data class or anything like that.

For instance, do you know what your GUIs are going to look like? What user functions are you going to support? Are you going to use RMI or Sockets?

I would have thought you'd need to have the answers to some of these questions before diving in with (arguably) the most complicated piece of the project. As an example, whether you use RMI or Sockets will probably have an impact on how you implement your Data class.

I found that a pen and paper was the best way to start. Sketching out the GUI helped me a lot, as did working through a high level design (playing with various design pattern ideas) before starting to code. It's not too dissimilar from the waterfall method of doing things...

i. analysis
ii. design
iii. implementation
iv. testing

The more work you do in the analysis and design, the easier the implementation and testing will be.

I hope that helps!

Chris

[vaibhav mishra]

@Chris
thanks for the inputs I am pretty clear about some of these things, for instance I completed Andrew's book a day before yesterday and then the real work start, I haven't written a single line of code while reading the book because I was sure I am doing it to get an idea , I'll read book chapter-wise during project develoment,

For instance, do you know what your GUIs are going to look like?

I have sketched the GUI on a chart paper(I am a little paranoid about this stuff ) and a clear class representation of my GUI class which I prepared today,

What user functions are you going to support?

I haven't yet finalized user functions because I am not sure now what that meant in context of my application(B&S 2.1.1 ), and I am sure it will become clear , the more I delve into asssignment

Are you going to use RMI or Sockets?

This thing is the only one you asked of which I am crystal clear, I'll definitely use RMI, since it is more simple (and for me this argument meant a lot !lol!!)


Since you suggested my data class design will depend on this , I am starting to develop GUI first, thanks for your response.