[GLLUG] I had an idea, now, How to Find a good developer?

Tue Feb 3 22:26:35 EST 2015

Hi Peter,

I'm a developer. I'm too busy to take on additional projects right
now, but If you want to give me a call, I can talk through some ideas
with you on sifting through potentials.

One quick point I'd make would be to look for developers who, when
talking through your ideas, are focused on the problem at hand, not
the technologies. That is to say, the challenges and unique
requirements of your application will require careful initial
analysis. If the developer starts speaking about how they can do
such-and-such in Ruby on Rails, or that Node.js is so perfect for this
application, that would concern me.

I've only attended one Linux group meeting, but at the one I attended,
someone had talked through an application idea they were approaching
using all of these "cool object oriented approaches" in C++. When I
inquired if they'd checked out some basic C libraries that already
provided many of the features they were trying to develop, they
replied, "I would never want to use C for a large-scale project, the
benefits of C++'s OOP approach are too great." Let that sink in a bit,
again, as we were at a "Linux" group meeting (and, no, I'm not against
C++ [I actually like it], but that was a funny statement because I
know someone who built something pretty big in C, and he doesn't care
for C++ [http://harmful.cat-v.org/software/c++/linus])

The point is, technologies are merely the tools, and good developer
will only start to consider the proper tools once they properly
understand the job.

Adam

517-623-0485

On Tue, Feb 3, 2015 at 9:50 PM, Dave Crampton <dave.crampton at gmail.com> wrote:
> I'd like to call something out that I've noticed. I didn't see a single
> answer to the OP's question:
>
> I had an idea, now, How to Find a good developer?
>
> I saw plenty of "here's why you don't want to do what you want to do." Is
> the attitude the same at in-person meetings?
>
> --
> Sent from my mobile device, please excuse typos and brevity.
>
> On Feb 3, 2015, at 9:11 PM, Richard Houser <rick at divinesymphony.net> wrote:
>
> You don't really need wads of cash.  Some of the best software projects have
> been done on shoestring budgets.  You only need wads of cash to get someone
> else to do all the work for you.  You have to bring something to the table,
> and if you don't have the skills, that means you are Mr. Moneybags.  If you
> have the time, discipline, and inclination, you can certainly teach yourself
> most of the necessary skills.  Reading the license agreements is a simple
> example.  OSS licenses are specifically written in plain language so you
> don't need to hire a lawyer to understand them.  If you are willing to
> devote a couple years to developing the appropriate skills, you could
> probably do 90-95% yourself with open source.  It may very well be ugly
> under the covers, but you could have something working for a very low cost.
> It wouldn't even need to be an expensive education: (ex.
> http://ocw.mit.edu/).  Getting a basic CS education would also help you
> identify a good developer, btw.  There are LOTs of bad ones, and you usually
> need an engineer and/or experienced software developer to spot the
> difference before it's too late.
>
> For my part, I'm slowly developing the skills and a small prototyping lab to
> build my first few attempts at potentially commercial projects (several
> years in).  Pure software guys have it easy.....
>
> On Tue, Feb 3, 2015 at 8:25 PM, Peter Christenson <pac1.mi at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> All,
>> Thank you all for your thoughts and opinions. They have been very helpful
>> in in my thoughts about moving forward.
>>
>> As a recap, the pointers I have learned that will help my idea to come to
>> life, are that, an NDA may be needed to protect myself from having the idea
>> stolen, however idea's can not be patented, and no one really wants the
>> idea, only the outcome.  I need to research the market for similar things,
>> and find out what will make mine different. I Will need stacks of cash, and
>> then more stacks after that.  I should learn how to write formal requirement
>> documents or hire someone to do it for me. I need to research the licenses
>> of each piece of software, and possibly consult a lawyer. I should hire the
>> best developer I can to build a good team of  developers I can because they
>> cost less than cheaper developers.  If I can't communicate what I want, I
>> will get a beautiful system that doesn't do what I want. And last but not
>> least. I need stacks of money ;-) I hope I haven't missed anything.
>>
>> So... when trying to find a developer what should I be looking for, that
>> will  qualify them as a good one, when I'm not one?
>>
>> On Feb 3, 2015 1:11 AM, "Thomas Hruska" <thruska at cubiclesoft.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> On 2/2/2015 1:04 PM, Peter Christenson wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Hi Patrick and Chick, Thanks for the fast response.
>>>
>>>
>>>> however I will share that it is a meal planning and shopping list tool
>>>> that
>>>> would be available via browser as well as mobile app and maybe even a
>>>> desktop app.  with the goal of helping the end users, without adding
>>>> more
>>>> complexity to their lives.
>>>
>>>
>>> Oops.  Missed this.  Still pretty broad and it's the sort of thing that's
>>> been done a zillion times.  You'll have a lot of competition in the space.
>>> Google Docs is probably your biggest competitor.  Google is not worth taking
>>> on.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Thomas Hruska
>>> CubicleSoft President
>>>
>>> I've got great, time saving software that you will find useful.
>>>
>>> http://cubiclesoft.com/
>>
>>
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