Zuzel Vera

I am expecting that the feedback from the second reader of the thesis will be ready sometime between tomorrow and this Friday. In the mean time, I have being reading a Java tutorial, and thinking about possible projects that I could implement using that programming language. These are the ideas that have crossed my mind:

Implement the missing features of Flip-a-Coin

A few weeks ago I was learning the basics of GWT, and I implemented an app that still has some missing features.

Put the results of my thesis into practice

In my M.Sc. thesis, I studied ad hoc diagrammatic notations for the representation of database queries. After analyzing the diagrams drawn by 30 programmers in a lab setting, I was able to identify which classes of notations were more frequently used for the representation of database tables, select, delete, insert and update statements. I also found trends in the order in which different parts of the queries were represented. I would like to implement a tool that can automatically draw those diagrams, and produce animations based in the drawing orders more frequently used by the participants.

Implement a simple app in Android and Blackberry

A few days ago I remembered the mastermind game we had at home in Cuba. I found some implementations of it on the web, and after a few games I confirmed that I am still pretty good guessing the colors. As I expected, the game is already implement everywhere but it can probably be a good hello word app for learning the basics of Android’s and Blackberry’s development platforms.

Implement a manga reader

If you want to read unlicensed manga online (which I think is legal), there are several websites (as MangaFox) that you could visit. Not all these websites provide you with recommendations, page markers, or notifications when there is an update in one of the ongoing mangas that you are reading. There are also a couple of sites (as myanimelist, or bakaupdates) in which you can look for recommendations based on genres, or opinions of other users. The implementation of a reader that could combine all these features, let you read offline, and synchronize your state when you change from one device to another (so you can read on your laptop, your PC, and your mobile device) will probably be quite interesting.

Implement a game generator

Probably the main downside of writing the story behind an interactive fiction game is that nothing will be new for you when you play it later. This is also true for other kinds of games. It will be interesting to see games produced by automatic tools, and there is some research done on this area that could be used as starting point.

Of course it will be a lot more interesting to work on the implementation of a software that solves an existing problem for its users (instead of implementing a random idea), but that will probably have to wait until I find a job (that will certainly provide me with a lot of projects that are useful for their clients). Fortunately, I’m already taking the first steps for that to happen soon.