Friday, March 28, 2008

Programming Challenge

Today, someone sms'ed me asking help for his programming project. The program, created in Java should be able to control a computer lab, just like a cyber cafe. Other features include shutting down the pc from the program and monitor pc's connected to the server. I have to admit that it is an interesting challenge, something that I would do for free if I have the time.
The issue is, do I have enough time? I have to produce the software by next week. Am I competent enough for this task? Hmm..not sure but the Internet can help a lot with numerous articles and forums that cater to this kind of problem. I am not an expert in Java. I know a bit to get by but to solve this kind of problem, I need to go down one step further in the abstraction chain.
The pc shutdown process is managed by the operating system. To override this process, I need to understand the relationship between Java and the underlying OS. Its been a while since I last programmed! My brain is still in autopilot mode.



No comments: