Thread: Web Spider

Hi,

I am starting to think about my final year University project and have the idea of writing a web spider. Would this be a good fit for C++?

The basic premise would be a program that web managers can utilise to monitor all interal and external links within their domain, and report on the health of those links at any given interval.

Is this something that is suited to C++ or more so with C#? Also, would you think this is of sufficient difficulty and challenge for a final year project?

I am fairly comfortable with both C++ and C#, however haven't done much web programming.

Thanks,

Darren.

I think that, based on your summary, if I did it in C++ rather than C#, it may raise negative questions from my University why I didn't use the 'right tool for the job' and there is 'no need to re-invent the wheel', etc, etc, they are pretty keen on that. I think with the libraries already in C#, that it sounds a little too easy for a final project and would therefore not provide enough substance for me to discuss the project in the dissertation.

Ah well, I think trying to figure out a final year project is the most difficult thing i've had to do whilst at Uni!

Thanks for the response Salem.

Thanks Salem , I will give it some thought. I am in the lucky position of just starting a 12 month industrial placement prior to my final year at Uni, so I have a little time to think things through and learn new skills. Ideally I want to start actually coding it within the next 3-4 months, so I will keep reading and searching for ideas and/or expansions to this idea.

Cheers.

Don't know if it'll be useful, but what I did was listen to interviews with prominent people in my areas of interest and see what ideas they had for what's going to happen in the future.

For instance, I got my idea from watching an interview with the lead dev on Microsoft's driver framework when it was first released. The interviewer asked him if managed languages would ever be involved on the kernel level, I can't remember what the response was but that became my project. 14-15 months later, I took my laptop and a Windows XP VM into a meeting with the profs marking my dissertation and demonstrated the Kenco language (named after the coffee, since I was in Java class at the time), the compiler, a runtime and a short proof of concept.

So yeah, I'd say make sure it's a project you'll enjoy because you're going to be seeing quite of lot of it.

Originally Posted by adeyblue

Don't know if it'll be useful, but what I did was listen to interviews with prominent people in my areas of interest and see what ideas they had for what's going to happen in the future.

For instance, I got my idea from watching an interview with the lead dev on Microsoft's driver framework when it was first released. The interviewer asked him if managed languages would ever be involved on the kernel level, I can't remember what the response was but that became my project. 14-15 months later, I took my laptop and a Windows XP VM into a meeting with the profs marking my dissertation and demonstrated the Kenco language (named after the coffee, since I was in Java class at the time), the compiler, a runtime and a short proof of concept.

So yeah, I'd say make sure it's a project you'll enjoy because you're going to be seeing quite of lot of it.

There's some good advice there. It is difficult trying to find something at undergraduate level that's innovative and progressive. They tend to be more so at masters or PHD level.

Thanks for the advice.

Originally Posted by Salem

Your industrial placement will be a good source for ideas

With the added bonus of a job offer if you make a decent attempt.

Makes a change from the usual "gimme project title" types who roll through with 1-post and 24 hour deadlines

Cheers.

As a mature student (34 upon graduation), I feel that I need to make my CV stand out more than most. One way of doing that is having a project on there that catches the eye. Hopefully, will think of one over the next few months.

Cheers.