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What are the best sites for hobbyist programmers to get their inspiration? I often ask myself the question: 'What software will I make today?'. What sites do you get your inspiration from? I often do Mac/iPhone developing. Or is it just StackOverflow? |
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Here are a few sites that can be good to spend time on if you're bored and in need of a coding challenge: MathematicalContest-relatedChallenges posed by companies
Interesting course problems |
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I don't really get my inspiration from websites; it comes from being out in the real world, and seeing real problems and thinking up interesting and fun ways to solve them. |
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Excellent source of good programming related bookmarks (search on a tag that's relevant to your interests). Pages can be anything from a good hack to informative research to interesting video presentations. |
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I usually make software to solve (common) problems I face in my everyday (personal or work) life. Typical examples would be automating tedious or boring tasks that I have to do frequently or semi-frequently. Another example is developing a plug-in or add-on for another piece of software to add a specific feature or solve a certain need you have that the software currently does not meet. Of course, just writing stuff for the challenge (i.e. see if you are able to accomplish something or solve a given problem) or for fun is also good. |
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I hope my comment above wasn't too sharp! But I do think finding inspiration is a good idea. Also, I should add that my Google Reader subscriptions have become a great inspiration to me. When I find sites like the ones above, I subscribe. Here's another really cool site I have come across focused on hacking the Kinect (the name says it all) - http://kinecthacks.net/ Another source of inspiration I have found is locating data sources and creating mash-ups. E.g. http://mashupaustralia.org/data-sources/ It always helps to have some sort of data to work with. I like to think of it as the fuel of an application, where the coding is the engine (maybe that was a bit wishy-washy for stack-overflow, but you know it's true). Your data source could be from a pre-compiled database (like the one above) or it could be collected from somewhere else; e.g. Yahoo Pipes or a Kinect sensor. Also consider that your iPhone is a data centric device. You have contact lists, music, information about network connectivity, the camera and microphone (as sources of input) and more. What could be some useful ways to implement this data? |
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