What should i do as a mini project?

Question

I have completed second year of my bachelor's degree in IT. I have lot of enthusiasm in doing innovative stuff. Due to lack of confidence, I never took up anything. This vacation, we are required to do a mini project in one month's time.

We have been suggested to make a database. But i want to do something more innovative and a bit more challenging. I know certain database projects can be good too but i can;t think of anything good in it.

Basically, i am open to anything which is interesting and which can possibly be done at my level. I have basic knowledge of C++, Java(preferable), SQL and Web Programming(Servlets, jsp, asp). I have two ideas. But i feel both are not good (as they involve some electronics stuff too). Also i don't know where to and how to start.

1)Using Mobile WiFi communication to control relays 2)Making an app through which we can control all the home appliance or any such stuff over the internet.

I think both of them are too far fetched given my meager project development experience and the time.

Please suggest me something. I am ready to do anything which is a little challenging and possible to be completed at my level.

This is a very important oppurtunity for me to break the inertia and get into serious programming. Please help me friends. Thanks you all in advance. :)

Answer 1

Pick an item (or a set of items) commonly listed on craigslist. Programatically search craigslist several times a day for the item(s). Your first search should grab the historical data.

Track each unique listing in a database. Create reports such as:

Average price

Most active listing day.

Average for sale per day

Total for sale per day

etc, etc

You'll touch on a bit of network programming, parsing, and sql and most importantly learn how to deal with some common problems when working with real world data.

Answer 2

First, don't sit back and think "I want to make something" - nothing that's useful ever starts out this way. Instead, think to yourself "what's one thing that really annoys the living hell out of me and I WISH I had an app to do it for me" -- THAT'S your project.

Keep it simple, basic functionality first and use it. The more you use it, the more fun it'll be and the more ideas you will come up with. It'll be yours, you'll own it and have a desire to make it work. And maybe recruit some friends or family members after it runs and see what they come up with to add on.

Answer 3

Build a website, and learn Struts, Spring, or another web framework. Also play with Subversion or another version control system. Do it in Eclipse, so you use a very common IDE. Gain the skills that college doesn't teach that most (all?) coding jobs are going to require.

Or, buy an Arduino, and build a motion-detector-triggered squirtgun to keep cats off the kitchen counters. Costs less than $100 for all the parts, and the cat won't try to eat your lunch again.

I went with the first, many years ago. My cat still stays on the counter, and I work pretty happily as a web dev.

Answer 4

Develop a simple app/greasemonkey script that automatically prompts stack overflow users to select "community wiki" when asking a question with no single correct answer. :)

Arduino is a good place to start for connecting objects/appliances to the net (check out the decent "Making Things Talk" book by Tom Igoe) , but also check out mbed. You could try hack-a-day for inspiring physical electronics projects