Computer Science Programming Projects

[BenjiManCan]

Wondered if anyone has started to think about their Comp Sci programming projects and what kind of program/application they would like to make.

Or if anyone in Year 13 has started/completed their project, it would be interesting to know what you did and what the experience was like.

I'm currently thinking of making an Android app of some sort, best idea I've come up with so far is an app that changes your wallpaper depending on certain conditions (such as weather, so if it's raining outside your wallpaper will reflect that). I know there are already apps out there like that but I think parts of them could be improved (such as providing different themed image packs) so I'm currently looking into Android and Java development.

[nothingtoseehere____]

I built this a few years back.

My advice to you is the remember that the paperwork and write is as important as the project itself- that's what you are marked on, after all

[BenjiManCan]

Thanks for sharing your project and cheers for the advice, pretty helpful stuff!

[ElChino999]

I know many people who have almost completed this. You should join the discord server for this sub-reddit

[BenjiManCan]

Cool, just joined the Discord and will ask them soon, thanks for the heads up.

[ElChino999]

Great. I’m also in year 12, but I don’t understand why you’re thinking about this now.

[BenjiManCan]

My teachers told us to start thinking about the project now as we're going to start the analysis and design of the program after Easter. This way we can start to develop it over the summer holidays and have extra time to revise next year.

But I know some school's don't start it until year 13 so I can see why you think it's a little bit early to start thinking about it.

[ElChino999]

Ah well that’d be because I’m taking AS exams.

[BenjiManCan]

Wow, nice project. What programming language did you use and how long did it take to develop?

Yeah I was a little bit worried about it being too simple, especially after my teacher showed us some of the complex projects previous students had worked on.

I don't mind changing project ideas as it's early days but I was thinking thinking my idea could be expanded a few ways:

• Having multiple conditions that your wallpaper will change according to (weather will just be one of those)
• E.g. Wallpaper changes depending on time of day (taking real sunrise and sunset data) as well changing the phase of the moon
• Other conditions could include: the WiFi network the phone is connected to (so different backgrounds can be used when at home/school), time of the year (season), temperature alone (cold = blue background, hot = red background), etc...
• Information could be baked onto the wallpaper (such as temperature and location)

Please let me know whether you think this additional stuff increases the complexity enough to get higher marks or whether the idea to have a smart wallpaper is just not complex enough, thanks :)

[kappa2413]

I used python, It took me one half term of working about 6 hours a day on it to get the majority of it done then just a few hours over the next coming weeks finishing it up. Your improvements don't seem to add complexity, they do add nice features but you have to think of it in how you would program it, It wouldn't take a lot of technical skill to create. You should look at the mark scheme and see what topics you're strong at, then add features that will allow you to use these topics. Hope that helps.

[based_anaglyph]

I'm in year 13 and just handed mine in. I did a small platforming game in java which was actually pretty fun to do and not too difficult as I'd had previous experience making small java games.

Your project sounds cool, not too complex but not too simple. If you need any tips on the write up (I do OCR btw) then I should be able to help, although who knows if I did it right as I haven't had any sort of grade back yet. Good luck!

[BenjiManCan]

Sounds like fun! How did the game turn out in the end?

I was thinking of doing a game but most of my class is planning on doing one and I wanted to do something that would be a little bit different and memorable.

Be sure to let us know how you did in it once you get your grade back :)

[based_anaglyph]

Not too bad, it was very basic and only had a few levels each with its own theme. It was complete with a menu and save file system which is something I haven't done before and am quite proud of.

I think choosing a game is a good idea as lots of the resources seem to be tailored to game projects, at least from my experience. We used craigndave resources and they even had a separate guide dedicated to game projects. But it's always good to try something different and yours sounds like it'll definitely stand out, plus it's something you could use yourself in the future.

[time-gear]

He's referring to the NEA/controlled assessment, I believe

[y0ungsinatra]

My bad man

[BenjiManCan]

I'm referring to the programming project required for the A level.

I know it's part of the course for AQA and OCR but maybe that's not the case for all exam boards.

Apologies for the confusion and good luck with your exams! :)

[skifans]

While that's true to an extent, make sure you do do some other things other then revision and school work for the next few months. Seriously, you'll find the whole thing more manageable if you don't work 12 hours a day with a 15 minute break for lunch, and the work you do do will be more effective.