Video/Game Database progress

I realize I haven't really blogged on its development since it actually began. The fact is, there have been multiple things I've been meaning to blog on and are even now as of this typing saved as drafts. I do wanna say that my previous blog on console exclusive "controversy" is an exception as that is a topic that really gets on my nerves. I will make an effort to share my thoughts with the other topics A.S.A.P. They've been sitting as drafts for too long.

Database development has been quiet, but it is has been and is real, and it is moving along pretty smoothly. I must say, I am much further along in a development than I ever imagined before beginning this project. I guess I underestimated just how much using a well-designed, managed language like C# could boost productivity. I can't leave out the fact that Visual C# Express has been a tremendously useful tool. The Windows Form designer along with my C# book as reference as well as, of course, my own knowledge of C# has made development of the GUI as well as the code under the hood a relatively smooth and easy-learning process.

As it stands, the fundamental design of the GUI and code structure is in place. As a result of doing effective on-paper planning of the database before beginning to code, I was able to build a foundation that is in, IMO, probably the most organized and well-styled fashion of any project I've ever worked on. With a foundation in place, I am now quite literally iterating the implementation of each core data component of the database, those being:

1. Videos
2. Games
3. Accessories
4. Platforms
5. Storage

I have been working from the bottom up and I am currently on #2...yeah, like I said, I'm much further along than I originally imagined. This is a project I imagined working on through the upcoming school year and maybe beyond. If the implementation of the Video and Game GUIs go as smooth as the other three, this project will be in alpha much sooner than later, with an open beta possibly as early as Christmas.

I'll blog with a more intimate preview of what the database does as it gets closer to alpha. I just wanted to share that the database is much more a reality at this point than I originally anticipated. If I were on a workstation that was up to my "standards" I'd love to post some screens of the GUI-clad database, but I think I'll just wait until I have access to a workstation that is.

Overall, I'm feeling very good about the way development has been progressing, and perhaps more importantly, I'm feeling very good about the experience I'm gaining with my newly acquired language, C#.