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How do you create an application?
#11
Writing software is somewhere between an art and a science. My undergraduate degree was in Computer Science. This was back in the 80's, so the concept of a GUI application was pretty new. I did some GUI-like programming back in the 90's, first on a Sun workstation, then doing some Visual Basic programming on the PC. So I do have experience coding. With that said, I'm basically going to say that learning to code is not easy. You might be able to cobble together a few basic applications, but I'd give up on trying to do anything sophisticated.

I also bring another important perspective. I am the Lead Engineer/Software Support Manager of a Curriculum Development program used throughout the Navy. I have been with the program for almost 14 years. I know exactly the kind of stuff that is needed to go into a program that will create learning objectives, curriculum outlines, class scheduling, testing, lesson plans and student guides. I don't do the actual programming, but I have seen the code, and I know exactly how the program works. The unfortunate thing, though, is that it is Gov't owned software, so you can't get it.

However, I can tell you that it is essentially a serious of Visual Basic modules that work as a front-end to a large relational database. And I'm not talking "Visual Basic macros" like you see in MS Office. I'm talking the full-blown language, which controls everything like the windowing, controls, etc. The total size of the application, compiled, comes out at about 100MB.

If you would like pointers on what kind of things are necessary to program something like this, I'd be happy to give you some pointers.
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#12
[quote graylocks]
that's an interesting idea. not having to start from scratch sounds good. i need to look into what it means to write code. so, everything on a computer screen - lines, colors, spacings - is the result of code? no WYSIWYG for making an app?!
I don't write software, but there are different levels of "writing software". What you describe is kind of what RealBasic, or AppleScript Studio help with --- they start with certain building blocks (i.e. preformed code assumptions) to allow you to do the final result.
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#13
Ah, didn't see rz's post; hopefully I wasn't too far off the mark.

Hey --- gov't. software. graylocks, you pay your taxes? They OWE that stuff to you, right? Wink
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#14
You never know... proper application of the Freedom of Information Act may work :-)
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#15
Well, you might be able to get the software, but unless you attend the week-long training class, you'd get lost pretty quick.
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#16
Facespan maybe?

http://www.latenightsw.com/fs4/


It's WYSIWYG....
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#17
[quote rz]Well, you might be able to get the software, but unless you attend the week-long training class, you'd get lost pretty quick.
Details.. details... Big Grin
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#18
You could use separate programs for each instead of trying to find an all-in-one program. I know there are a ton of grade tracker programs out there and for the lesson plans, Lesson Plan Generator looks like it might work for what you need.

You could also visit a local Mac friendly school and see what they use. If you don't have one near you let me know, our school is all Mac and I'll be there a lot this summer helping switch over their servers and I could check into what they use.
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#19
[quote graylocks]a field i'm involved in needs a tracking application that runs on a mac. there are a number of windows options but none for a mac.
Huh?

There are at least 5 here:

http://www.versiontracker.com/php/qs.php?pg=1&str=grades&srchArea=macosx&by=rating&dir=desc
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#20
[quote Article Accelerator][quote graylocks]a field i'm involved in needs a tracking application that runs on a mac. there are a number of windows options but none for a mac.
Huh?

There are at least 5 here:

http://www.versiontracker.com/php/qs.php?pg=1&str=grades&srchArea=macosx&by=rating&dir=desc
i explained it better in a later post. what i have in mind goes much beyond grade and attendance tracking.
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