Final Year Project - Help on Database Options

[touch]

you probably need to produce a good deal of technical documentation as well, which would usually include a section on technology choice - why you chose desktop vs. web, Java vs. C#, MySQL vs. Oracle, etc. For a final year project I'd also expect you to produce a proper specification and design before you start, which means at the very simplest a list of features that you're going to include, with details on what they are, why they're included, and how they'll work.

This is important.
I wrote an Android app for my final project. It may be different for you but my code was essentially worthless. None of the final mark for the project was from the code. I had to include it all as an appendix though and give a demonstration of my app. I knew from the start that there were 0 marks to be awarded for the actual code but i still got carried away and spent far too much time on it and not enough on the important stuff: the discussion of the choices you made and the analysis of the results.

With this in mind, I would use Access or whatever else you are familiar with for your database. Use whatever is quickest and easiest, there's no need for something that will cope with millions of rows of data and multiple simultaneous connections or anything fancy. Get it done quickly and write as much as you can about what you found out!


(also, it's ok to change your mind about what technologies you use at this stage - a proper software spec shouldnt define programming languages anyway)

 

[davetherave2]

Well working in the hotel/event industry (strictly speaking agency) a solution like that can be as simple or complicated as you want to make it.

As for technology go with something you are familiar with and know well. If you are more of a front end guy (which I am sensing you are) why not just focus on the front end stuff and use some form of ORM to handle all the data stuff and then you can just plug in what ever database technology you want afterwards. I am presuming if you go the php route there is an equivalent of Entity Framework for the non .Net world.

Don't let the technology dictate/influence your decision the solution, ensure the technology being used is there to complement the overall solution.

Given that this is for a FYP then it is more about the process than the actual end product (not to say that the end product should be ignored). From what I remember when I did my FYP the coding was probably the smallest amount of the total mark and it was more about the process. I am guessing they are looking at classic waterfall project planning rather than say Agile methodology.

If you do go with the hotel management solution and need a few pointers in terms of real world experience feel free to give me a shout.