Thread: Clone of MSN Messager Need How many days?

  1. #1
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Posts
    2

    Clone of MSN Messager Need How many days?

    I am going to write a clone of main functions of MSN Messager with the functions like chatting, talking with webcam.

    I wonder how many man-days are needed for such a project?

    I estimated it's about 40 man-days. Is 40 days too long or too short?
    I am junior so I needed someone experienced to give a more correct estimation.

    Also, are there some third party classes I can take into my project to fasten the development?

    I just cannot find the answer by googling so I hope someone can answer me. Thanks a lot.

  2. #2
    and the hat of int overfl Salem's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2001
    Location
    The edge of the known universe
    Posts
    39,660
    How long depends on your skill level (obviously) and how many features you want to implement. I'm sure you could get something done in that time frame.

    Understand that any real application you download or purchase is almost certainly measured in YEARS of effort, not days.
    If you dance barefoot on the broken glass of undefined behaviour, you've got to expect the occasional cut.
    If at first you don't succeed, try writing your phone number on the exam paper.

  3. #3
    Registered User VirtualAce's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2001
    Posts
    9,607
    I highly doubt you would get anything close to MSN in 40 days even with a large team. It looks simple and underneath it's not extremely complicated but there are pitfalls along the way that you cannot see right now.
    The biggest item is you will have to not only code the client but also the server. The server would have to be multithreaded, fairly robust and fool-proof, and would have to serve a lot of clients effectively and do it while remaining relatively stable (who ever said MSN was stable anyways?).

  4. #4
    Cat without Hat CornedBee's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Posts
    8,895
    If you write a Jabber client, there are servers freely available already.
    All the buzzt!
    CornedBee

    "There is not now, nor has there ever been, nor will there ever be, any programming language in which it is the least bit difficult to write bad code."
    - Flon's Law

Popular pages Recent additions subscribe to a feed

Similar Threads

  1. Advancing Days
    By nhubred in forum C++ Programming
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 06-01-2009, 06:22 PM
  2. some help on structures!!
    By dbz4life in forum C Programming
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 11-26-2008, 10:38 AM
  3. Clone function
    By gustavosserra in forum C++ Programming
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 01-03-2004, 05:57 PM
  4. Attn: MSN Dial-Up Users (long)
    By SinAmerica in forum A Brief History of Cprogramming.com
    Replies: 26
    Last Post: 11-25-2003, 04:26 PM
  5. while, sentinel, if, switch
    By Unregistered in forum C++ Programming
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 11-11-2001, 11:50 PM