[willyblackshaw]

Evening all, first post

I have a dream to one day to have developed some software which i can sell to others
The software is for car dealerships, however i appriciate this is alot of years down the line

My train of thought is to make a website with layouts of how i would like it to look, link etc

Then develope it to a working model and test it within my dealership that i own

Once happy test it with friends dealerships then roll out to sell

How is the web the place for such software? The software will require to basically be many databases such as customers, vehicles, history, customer contact management, data storage, data feeds into the system and back out etc

Is the web the best place, or even a good place short term? I understand html but php / mysql is something i need to learn

Any advice is appriciated

[adamsmith]

I would probably just start learning software developing rather than web developing.

I don't really see the point of having the 'software' work as a website when it is meant to be software. BTW I take it that you mean a piece of software that you install on a computer? You would have to learn PHP and SQL to only have to learn again to develop for software, so might aswell just jump straight in.

[Geeks]

I would agree with adamsmith, try learnin java, it is extremely powerful and cross-platform

[rallport]

Enjoy the huge initial learning curve if you go down the Java route. I still have knightmares about some of the Java assignments I was given at University level, years ago

[MikeChipshop]

I'd completely ignore the above (no offence) and work at developing a SaaS (software as a service) implementation.
Although it wouldn't be an easy route to take (although still easier than Java) it would very flexible and you could learn sections as you along.
In general you'd be well off learning HTML/CSS for layout/styling, PHP for programming, JavaScript for interaction and MySQL for database.

Of course it would depend on how much scaling you required but many organisations are taking this direction when it comes to programming applications.

[ocb]

Hi,

I guess every developer has his/her own opinion.

I personally think the web way (HTML/PHP/MYSQL/AJAX) is the most suitable way to go.

The main advantage is that the whole system is in one place, your webserver. That means if you add a function or fix a bug, all users see the change immediately.

If you were using local software, you would have to update all computers where it is installed.

Additionally, the new web technologies (AJAX) can make a web application look like any software application.

But I would not recommend you to learn this and do it yourself, unless you are really really keen.

You would go better by hiring a programmer on elance.com or freelancer.com. That way you can focus your energy on other things, rather than learning web developing.

When posting jobs to these websites, make sure you list each and every function you want in meticulous detail. Otherwise you'll run into problems.

Good luck with this what seems to be an exciting project.

This post has been edited by ocb: 09 January 2012 - 03:33 AM

[luizarios]

willyblackshaw, on 03 January 2012 - 08:52 PM, said:

Evening all, first post

I have a dream to one day to have developed some software which i can sell to others
The software is for car dealerships, however i appriciate this is alot of years down the line

My train of thought is to make a website with layouts of how i would like it to look, link etc

Then develope it to a working model and test it within my dealership that i own

Once happy test it with friends dealerships then roll out to sell

How is the web the place for such software? The software will require to basically be many databases such as customers, vehicles, history, customer contact management, data storage, data feeds into the system and back out etc

Is the web the best place, or even a good place short term? I understand html but php / mysql is something i need to learn

Any advice is appriciated

I agree with the two guys above, learn php and my sql, it won't take you that long to learn as it is fairly simple, people say giving yourself a project is the best way to learn.

[dcoder]

luizarios, on 10 January 2012 - 11:45 AM, said:

I agree with the two guys above, learn php and my sql, it won't take you that long to learn as it is fairly simple, people say giving yourself a project is the best way to learn.

yes good advice

you have a good concept for developing this application
now start learning the basic and do some research how to implement all this idea