I want opinions from others who have seen students do startups. I am a first year CS student and this summer I am planning on creating an e-commerce style web app. That is the best way to describe some of the technical challenges, additionally, users/sellers will be able to create accounts, rate sellers, rate products. There is really more to it but from a technical perspective it is comparable to what I describe.
Anyway - I want tips on building this thing. Just general advice. I am working with a partner, who is handling the business side of things, all I have to worry about is the product. About my experience - I really don't have much, but I have read a lot about the development process. I have learned Java and C++ in school, but I have been programming in Python on the side and I am most comfortable with it. I'm currently reading a book on creating a Django app, which I hope to have done before the summer. Other areas - databases, taking a DB design course, have played around with Postgres, but have not implemented one in production. Front end - I know my HTML and CSS, I'm not familiar with Javascript but I figure if I know C++,Python, and Java I can pick it up quickly. As far as hosting platform I plan to use Heroku.
So if I have 2-3 months to build this, do you have any tips on how to succeed in general - what am I going against. I feel like I'm in over my head, but each of the concepts individually is very simple. I have only been programming for 2 years, and the first 6 months of that was extremely laid back intro, 1 year of CS seems to help tons, but as far as managing a huge project, I feel overwhelmed. The other part of me says - go for it. I know it is the best way to learn. I know I am going to encounter technical problem after problem, and I am going to just hack it. I didn't discuss the idea, but I am really attached to it, and I plan on putting 110% effort into this things even if it means I am working on it non-stop. Even with this mentality however, I realize I am attacking a huge problem with no practical experience.
Anyway - I want tips on building this thing. Just general advice. I am working with a partner, who is handling the business side of things, all I have to worry about is the product. About my experience - I really don't have much, but I have read a lot about the development process. I have learned Java and C++ in school, but I have been programming in Python on the side and I am most comfortable with it. I'm currently reading a book on creating a Django app, which I hope to have done before the summer. Other areas - databases, taking a DB design course, have played around with Postgres, but have not implemented one in production. Front end - I know my HTML and CSS, I'm not familiar with Javascript but I figure if I know C++,Python, and Java I can pick it up quickly. As far as hosting platform I plan to use Heroku.
So if I have 2-3 months to build this, do you have any tips on how to succeed in general - what am I going against. I feel like I'm in over my head, but each of the concepts individually is very simple. I have only been programming for 2 years, and the first 6 months of that was extremely laid back intro, 1 year of CS seems to help tons, but as far as managing a huge project, I feel overwhelmed. The other part of me says - go for it. I know it is the best way to learn. I know I am going to encounter technical problem after problem, and I am going to just hack it. I didn't discuss the idea, but I am really attached to it, and I plan on putting 110% effort into this things even if it means I am working on it non-stop. Even with this mentality however, I realize I am attacking a huge problem with no practical experience.
Learning as I go, the name of the game...