I have been focusing on other tasks besides Java programming lately and I feel it slipping away from me. I want to refresh my skills while doing something interesting. Unfortunately, I have not motivation right now to start any ambitious projects (large games) because I need to continue to balance a bunch of other things right now in life. So does anyone have some suggestions for fun/interesting small projects to work on in Java? I am looking for projects that should range from 20-100 hours to complete. I guess my biggest Java achievement to date would be coding a compiler in Java, to give you some background. Currently, I am thinking about some sort of encrypted data transfer application, but I am hoping to get a few outside ideas that may grab me and get me more motivated. Thanx for any suggestions.

Alimonster--That is a cool idea, but seems like it would focus more on graphics than the underlying programming, and I guess I should have been clearer that I want to steer away from graphics a bit, just to get back into the swing of things.

AP--Unfortunatley, the whole point of this post was that I feel my Java skills aren''t as up to date as they were and I need to focus on bringing them back. I don''t think it would be fair to try and mentor you at this point. G/L though.

The Tyr project is here.

write a good highscore server which supports n games simultaneously with good stats (like graphs etc).

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http://mill.3dfxsweden.net

like mill-o said,

write a good UNIVERSAL highscore server ..., and in addition let it trade information using XML

you may even make it so modular, that you will be able to change the datastore (the place where you actualy keep the data stored ... usually a file on a local HDD) implementation for your server (i.e. switching between a relational database and your own direct file persistence).

As you see ... there is no limit to your fantasy, to put ANY java skills back to the highest level

P.S.: When you decide what you do, can you post it here ? I''m a curious being

have a nice day

Petr Stedry

Well, that is a really cool idea. I am not uber-3733t (lmao) with Java''s netowrking, and I haven''t integrated Java with XML before (I''ve only used XML with a php front-end). These are both things I want to improve and learn, supplementing the Java refresher. OOP/modular design is a great thing to be enforcing as well, so I think I may just go this route.

Modular, Universal Highscore Server. Abstract filesystem (HD or DB), client/server model with network transparancy (use this model for both networked and non-networked machines, similar to Quake3''s network model, albeit way less involved!!!).

This is a cool idea, and would relate well to multiple areas I am in sore need of polishing up.

I am going to start architecting things this weekend. It would be helpful if you guys could 1.)throw in any input, 2.)elaborate on any features you would like, 3.)possibly link to any open-source game you may know of that might benefit from this so I could have a couple of examples to base the interface on, 4.)throw out any thoughts on useful API interfaces for this.

Please be aware that I am not asking you to walk me through it, and I can google with the best of them (for the game examples and stuff). I am simply asking for your input because this is a cool idea (better than re-invent the wheel and make this data structure and have it do this and then use a different structure and compare them and blah blah blah which is what I was expecting). Additionally, this may turn into something that could benefit your guys current projects, so its nice to code with the dual purposes of improving and helping the community.

The Tyr project is here.

You could do a networked version of an UNO Game :D

http://www.ldc.usb.ve/~ciro/uno/uno-1.2.jar