Pro Developer - Creating Your Dream Project

The first question isn't always as easy as you might think. Want to work on your Dream Project? Quickly, then. In highly detailed and explicit language, write down the definition of all the cool stuff that would, for you, comprise the ultimate fun programming gig. Okay, pencils down, time's up. What's that you say, you only got two items down? That's the point. The very first step in getting what you want is making sure you really know what it is. So, grab that pencil again, and this time take as many hours or days as you need to make a detailed list. Here's just a few questions to get you going.

• What languages do you want to use?
• Which APIs?
• What Internet capabilities?
• What application functionality?
• Which clever little UI gadgets do you want to play with?
• Multimedia?
• Databases?
• Speech recognition?

As you can see, the list can easily go on. But that's not all. A great project is more than just the technologies involved. Do you want to be the project manager, team lead, or just the grunt in the back banging out code? How much design input do you want? And let's not forget about toys. There's computers, networking issues, printers, broadband Internet access, laptops, PDAs and a host of other little gizmos that you may lust after. And hey, you in the back - yes, you. Put down that slide rule! I have a white board eraser, and I'm not afraid to use it! Now, where was?

Of course, these aren't the only issues that make for a cool programming gig, but you can no doubt take it from here. The point is to know exactly what you want. You'd be surprised, both in programming and life in general, how many people don't really know exactly what they want. These are also the people who complain the longest and loudest about being unhappy with their lot in life. Yes, people are curious creatures, aren't they?