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  • Is Java a good choice for cross-platform games?

    - by CommunistPancake
    I'm looking to create a game in Java and would like it to work on Windows, Linux, and Mac. I'm pretty sure C# is a bad choice for this, and I don't have enough experience in C or C++. I want to stay away from Flash. Therefore, Is Java a good choice for me? Mostly, I use C#, and think that Java is similar, so I assume it won't be that hard to learn. But is it fast enough? Is there a language more suited for my needs than Java?

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  • Retrieving saved checkboxes' name and values from database

    - by sermed
    I have a form with checkboxes, each one has a value. When the registered user select any checkbox the value is incremented (the summation) and then then registred user save his selection of checkbox if he satisfied with the result of summation into database all this work fine ...i want to enable the registred user to view his selection history by retriving and displaying the checkboxes he selected in a page with thier values ... How I can do that? I'm just able to save the selected checkboxes as choice 1, choice 2, for example .. I want to view the selected checkboxes that is saved in database as the appear in the page when the user first select them: for example if the registred user selects these 3 options LEAD DEEP KEEL (1825) FULLY BATTENED MAINSAIL (558) TEAK SIDE DECKS (2889) They will be saved as for example (choice1, choice2, choice3). But if he want to view selected checkboxes the appear exactly as first he selects them: LEAD DEEP KEEL (1825) FULLY BATTENED MAINSAIL (558) TEAK SIDE DECKS (2889) This is my user table: $query="CREATE TABLE User( user_id varchar(20), password varchar(40), user_type varchar(20), firstname varchar(30), lastname varchar(30), street varchar(50), city varchar(50), county varchar(50), post_code varchar(10), country varchar(50), gender varchar(6), dob varchar(15), tel_no varchar(50), vals varchar(50), email varchar(50))"; and the code to inser the options selected to database <?php include("databaseconnection.php"); $str = ''; foreach($_POST as $key => $val) if (strpos($key,'choice') !== false) $str .= $key.','; $query = "INSERT INTO User (vals) VALUES('$str')"; $result=mysql_query($query,$conn); if ($result) { (mysql_error(); } else { echo " done"; } ?> And this is my form: function checkTotal() { document.listForm.total.value = ''; var sum = 0; for (i=0;i <form name="listForm" method="post" action="insert_options.php" > <TABLE cellPadding=3 width=600 border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TH align=left width="87%" bgColor=#b0b3b4><SPAN class=whiteText>Item</SPAN></TH> <TH align=right width="13%" bgColor=#b0b3b4><SPAN class=whiteText>Select</SPAN></TH></TR> <TR> <TD bgcolor="#9da8af"colSpan=2><SPAN class=normalText><B>General</B></SPAN></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgcolor="#c4c8ca"><SPAN class=normalText >TEAK SIDE DECKS (2889)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="2889" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()" /></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>LEAD DEEP KEEL (1825)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="1825" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>FULLY BATTENED MAINSAIL (558)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="558" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>HIGH TECH SAILS FOR CONVENTIONAL RIG (1979)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="1979" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>IN MAST REEFING WITH HIGH TECH SAILS (2539)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="2539" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>SPlNNAKER GEAR (POLE LINES DECK FITTINGS) (820)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="820" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>SPINNAKER POLE VERTICAL STOWAGE SYSTEM (214)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="214" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>GAS ROD KICKER (208)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="208" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>SIDE RAIL OPENINGS (BOTH SIDES) (392)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="392" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>SPRING CLEATS MIDSHIPS -ALUMIMIUM (148)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="148" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>ELECTRIC ANCHOR WINDLASS (1189)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="1189" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"> </TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>ANCHOR CHAIN GALVANISED (50m) (202)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="202" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"> </TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>ANCHOR CHAIN GALVANISED (50m) (1141)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="1141" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgcolor="#9da8af"colSpan=2><SPAN class=normalText><B>NAVIGATION & ELECTRONICS</B></SPAN></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgcolor="#c4c8ca"><SPAN class=normalText >WIND VANE (STAINLESS STEEL)(41)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="41" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()" /></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>RAYMARINE ST6O LOG & DEPTH (SEPARATE UNITS)(226)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="226" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgcolor="#9da8af"colSpan=2><SPAN class=normalText><B>ENGINES & ELECTRICS</B></SPAN></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>SHORE SUPPLY (220V) WITH 3 OUTLETS (EXCLUDJNG SHORE CABLE) (327)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="327" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>3rd BATTERY(14OA/H)(196)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="196" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>24 AMP BATTERY CHARGER (475)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="475" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>2 BLADED FOLDING PROPELLER (UPGRADE)(299)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="299" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgcolor="#9da8af"colSpan=2><SPAN class=normalText><B>BELOW DECKS/DOMESTIC</B></SPAN></TD></TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>WARM WATER (FROM ENGINE & 220V)(749)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="749" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>SHOWER IN AFT HEADS WITH PUMPOUT(446)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="446" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>DECK SUCTION DISPOSAL FOR HOLDINGTANK(166)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="166" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>REFRIGERATED COOLBOX (12V)(666)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="666" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>LFS SAFETY PACKAGE (COCKPIT HARNESS POINTS STAINLESS STEEL JACKSTAYS)(208)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="208" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>UPHOLSTERY UPGRADE IN SALOON (SUEDETYPE)(701)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="701" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgcolor="#9da8af"colSpan=2><SPAN class=normalText><B>NAVIGATION ELECTRONICS & ELECTRICS</B></SPAN></TD></TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>VHF RADIO AERIAL CABLED TO NAVIGATION AREA(178)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="178" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> </table>

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  • I'm making a simulated tv

    - by Jam
    I need to make a tv that shows the user the channel and the volume, and shows whether or not the television is on. I have the majority of the code made, but for some reason the channels won't switch. I'm fairly unfamiliar with how properties work, and I think that's what my problem here is. Help please. class Television(object): def __init__(self, __channel=1, volume=1, is_on=0): self.__channel=__channel self.volume=volume self.is_on=is_on def __str__(self): if self.is_on==1: print "The tv is on" print self.__channel print self.volume else: print "The television is off." def toggle_power(self): if self.is_on==1: self.is_on=0 return self.is_on if self.is_on==0: self.is_on=1 return self.is_on def get_channel(self): return channel def set_channel(self, choice): if self.is_on==1: if choice>=0 and choice<=499: channel=self.__channel else: print "Invalid channel!" else: print "The television isn't on!" channel=property(get_channel, set_channel) def raise_volume(self, up=1): if self.is_on==1: self.volume+=up if self.volume>=10: self.volume=10 print "Max volume!" else: print "The television isn't on!" def lower_volume(self, down=1): if self.is_on==1: self.volume-=down if self.volume<=0: self.volume=0 print "Muted!" else: print "The television isn't on!" def main(): tv=Television() choice=None while choice!="0": print \ """ Television 0 - Exit 1 - Toggle Power 2 - Change Channel 3 - Raise Volume 4 - Lower Volume """ choice=raw_input("Choice: ") print if choice=="0": print "Good-bye." elif choice=="1": tv.toggle_power() tv.__str__() elif choice=="2": change=raw_input("What would you like to change the channel to?") tv.set_channel(change) tv.__str__() elif choice=="3": tv.raise_volume() tv.__str__() elif choice=="4": tv.lower_volume() tv.__str__() else: print "\nSorry, but", choice, "isn't a valid choice." main() raw_input("Press enter to exit.")

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  • Where JSF and struts2 fails/goods

    - by ch.o.i.ce
    I am begining a web system and can't decide what technology use! Struts2 and JSF (with jboss seam) are a nice choices, but I can't decide which's better. In JSF have some that I don't like, maybe its "paradigm" no action like. And Struts2, the peoples here don't use more. The system is a map collaborative web site.

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  • Why is VB6 still so widely used?

    - by Uri
    Note that this question is not meant to start an argument, I am genuinely curious: Back in the 90s I used to work for a large CPU maker and we were building some debuggers. All our core logic was in C++, but the GUI was made in VB6. We couldn't figure out MFC and it was too much a hassle. We glued together VB6 and C++ using COM which we created via ATL. Fast forward to 2009, having been mostly in the Java world I am looking at job boards and seeing more VB6 jobs than I expected. I genuinely thought that VB6 was extinct, especially since VB.NET supposedly solved a lot of the problems with the VB6 which at the time felt a lot like a scripting language than a true OOP language. So what happened? Why is new code still written in it? Isn't there a better way to glue C++ and VB.NET? Note that I haven't used VB.NET, I just understand that it is a much more "stricter" language than VB6 was. Even with Option Explicit or whatever it was.

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  • What MS technology to use for HTTP service returning XML?

    - by Borek
    I need to create a service that: accepts HTTP requests (with query string or HTTP POST parameters) does some processing on the requests (checking if the request is valid, authentication etc.) reads data from a custom store (another HTTP call in our case) returns the result as custom XML (defined with XSD) I'm trying to think of various MS technologies that could help me and how good they would be for this scenario (pretty standard one I guess). The tasks above are relatively separate, this is what comes to mind: HTTP front-end: ASP.NET Web Forms ASP.NET MVC (seems more appropriate here as I won't need server controls, view state etc.) WCF? Don't know much about it or how well it would suit my task. Custom logic on the server: this will probably be a generic C# code in all cases (sometimes "plugged into" or called from MVC controllers or some equivalent place in other technologies) Reading data from internal data stores: As said, this is another HTTP server in our case. Options that come to mind: Just read the data using something like WebClient (Just theoretically) implement a LINQ provider (Just even more theoretically) implement an EF provider Output the data as custom XML: Linq2XML Serialization? Is it flexible enough? Does WCF provide some tools for this? Some "OXM" - Object/XML mapper if there is something like that for .NET I may be wrong in many of my assumptions, this is just a quick list that comes to mind after a quick research. Some general notes / questions: Testing is important Solution with a clear domain model would be much preferred over the one without Can Entity Framework actually help somewhere in my scenario? If so, where and how? Would WCF be an appropriate technology for this? I don't know much about it.

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  • Why and why not Coldfusion (CFML) ?

    - by zarko.susnjar
    When you speak to your colleagues or you want to convince your client to use Coldfusion for some new project and not some other technology or language they heard of before, which arguments do you use? I'm asking because I'd like to make presentation to put in my company's portfolio and seems that I can't find any real life, non development kind of arguments. Yes, cfquery and cffunction access="remote" make our lives easier, but client doesn't care too much about us, right?

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  • Storing multiple checkbox values in database

    - by Madjokr
    Hi, I want to store multiple column values in table.Lets take a example .. What are your favourite colors? the choices can be red,blue,green, orange. So lets assume, the user selects atleast 2 values. Is there any way to store the multiple values in table. I have implemented by concatinating choices of users in a column in the table. I later found that it is a bad practise. Currently i can think of using Bitwise operator and habtm. What are the different ways for storing multiple choices values in table? If I am implementing in rails, What is the best way to implement this with OOP concepts? Is there any builtin options in rails?

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  • How important is the programming language when you choose a new job?

    - by Luhmann
    We are currently hiring at the company where I work, and here the codebase is in VB.Net. We are worried that we miss out on a lot of brilliant programmers, who would never ever consider working with VB.Net. My own background is Java and C#, and I was somewhat sceptical as to whether it would work out with VB, as - to be honest - i didn't care much for VB. After a month or so, I was completely fluent in VB, and a few months later i discovered to my surprise, that I actually like VB. I still code my free time projects in C# and Boo though. So my question is firstly, how important is language for you, when you choose a new programming job? Lets say if its a great company, salary is good, and generally an attractive work-place. Would you say no to the perfect job, if the language wasn't your preferred dialect? VB or C# is one thing, but how about Java or C# etc. Secondly if the best developers won't join your company because of your language or platform, would you consider changing, to get the right people? (This is not a language bashing thread, so please no religious language wars) NB: This is Community Wiki

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  • How to justify using a scripting language as part of a project

    - by sylvanaar
    I have a specific project in which I want to use either a scripting language + C, or as an alternative a 100% Java solution. The program adapts a legacy system for use with other moderns systems. Basically, I have few choices as to what language I can use. I have C/C++, Java 1.4, and I have also compiled the Lua for this environment. The program does 'screen scraping' and has to deal with alot of strings. That part of the code is highly variable. Most of the developers at my company use C, so - my original design was to write some portions in C, and use Lua for the part that dealt with strings and changed freqently. I was told 'You have to justify your use of the scripting language.' So i reworked my design using 100% Java, and was told - Java wont have enough performance. You should do the whole thing in C. I'm not controlling lasers or doing image processing - just some screen scraping. I still have to provide justification for using anything but C - so what justification can I provide?

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  • HTML5 or Flash?

    - by lewiguez
    I have to write a web application for a client soon. Looking at the specs, there is no reason why the project couldn't be an HTML5/CSS/Javascript project, but the client is arguing that it has to be Flash. The project has a number of dynamic elements and is web-based. It'll only be used in-house by a small number of people and all of those people use either Google Chrome or Safari 4. They are all pretty tech-savvy to boot. My question is this: what are some of the reasons (preferably technical since this is Stack Overflow) I can present to my client as to why HTML5 is better than Flash (that's assuming I'm right and it is in this case)? Is it OK to use HTML5 even though it's still a draft spec (I'm assuming it is after checking out all those Apple HTML5 demos a few days ago)? Also, would a hybrid approach be preferable for now? Something that uses Flash wherever the canvas object would've been used in the HTML5 approach and that conforms to a normal XHTML approach. Help!

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  • How important is the .NET programming language when you choose a new job?

    - by Luhmann
    We are currently hiring at the company where I work, and here the codebase is in VB.Net. We are worried that we miss out on a lot of brilliant programmers, who would never ever consider working with VB.Net. My own background is Java and C#, and I was somewhat sceptical as to whether it would work out with VB, as - to be honest - i didn't care much for VB. After a month or so, I was completely fluent in VB, and a few months later i discovered to my surprise, that I actually like VB. I still code my free time projects in C# and Boo though. So my question is firstly, how important is language for you, when you choose a new programming job? Lets say if its a great company, salary is good, and generally an attractive work-place. Would you say no to the perfect job, if the language wasn't your preferred dialect? VB or C# is one thing, but how about Java or C# etc. Secondly if the best developers won't join your company because of your language or platform, would you consider changing, to get the right people? (This is not a language bashing thread, so please no religious language wars) NB: This is Community Wiki

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  • Relational Database arrays (H2, Java)

    - by Daddy Warbox
    I seem to have two options on how to implement arrays, and I want to know which I should go with: Use the ARRAY data type and (from what I understand) effectively serialize data objects into the database (which in my case are just wrapped primitive types; don't know of another way to make this work). Use a separate table and map with foreign keys for each array item. If you have experience with this (especially with H2), which would you recommend?

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  • How important is the choice of domain registrars? [closed]

    - by Harry Muscle
    We're consolidating all of our hosting providers onto one provider, however, this provider is strictly a hosting provider, they are not a domain registrar. The question I have is how important is the choice of registrars? Or in other words, if I point the domains to the hosting companies name servers, can the reliability of my registrar affect my websites in any way? If the registrar were to go down for a few days would that impact the accessibility of the websites? What would it impact? Thanks, Harry

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  • What is a recent programming language of choice for the AI?

    - by Eduard Florinescu
    For a few decades the programming language of choice for AI was either Prolog or LISP, and a few more others that are not so well known. Most of them were designed before the 70's. Changes happens a lot on many other domains specific languages, but in the AI domain it hadn't surfaced so much as in the web specific languages or scripting etc. Are there recent programming languages that were intended to change the game in the AI and learn from the insufficiencies of former languages?

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  • Does one's choice of 3d modeling software used during asset creation affect performance at runtime?

    - by user134143
    Does software used to create 3d assets (for game development specifically) have an impact on the efficiency of the program? In other words, is it possible to reduce the operating footprint of an application merely by utilizing alternative development software during production of 3d assets? If you use two different applications to create a 3-dimensional image of a box, can one of them result in better performance if aspects of the image are identical? I am attempting to get the information I need without causing unnecessary debate over specific software choice.

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  • What are the pro/cons of Unity3D as a choice to make games ?

    - by jokoon
    We are doing our school project with Unity3d, since they were using Shiva the previous year (which seems horrible to me), and I wanted to know your point of view for this tool. Pros: multi platform, I even heard Google is going to implement it in Chrome everything you need is here scripting languages makes it a good choice for people who are not programming gurus Cons: multiplayer ? proprietary, you are totally dependent of unity and its limit and can't extend it it's less "making a game from scratch" C++ would have been a cool thing I really think this kind of tool is interesting, but is it worth it to use at school for a project that involves more than 3 programming persons ? What do we really learn in term of programming from using this kind of tool (I'm ok with python and js, but I hate C#) ? We could have use Ogre instead, even if we were learning direct x starting january...

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  • How do we know to favour composition over generalisation is always the right choice?

    - by Carnotaurus
    Whether an object physically exists or not, we can choose to model it in different ways. We could arbitarily use generalisation or composition in many cases. However, the GoF principle of "favour composition over generalisation [sic]" guides us to use composition. So, when we model, for example, a line then we create a class that contains two members PointA and PointB of the type Point (composition) instead of extending Point (generalisation). This is just a simplified example of how we can arbitarily choose composition or inheritance to model, despite that objects are usually much more complex. How do we know that this is the right choice? It matters at least because there could be a ton of refactoring to do if it is wrong?

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  • What are the pro/cons of Unity3D as a choice to make games?

    - by jokoon
    We are doing our school project with Unity3d, since they were using Shiva the previous year (which seems horrible to me), and I wanted to know your point of view for this tool. Pros: multi platform, I even heard Google is going to implement it in Chrome everything you need is here scripting languages makes it a good choice for people who are not programming gurus Cons: multiplayer ? proprietary, you are totally dependent of unity and its limit and can't extend it it's less "making a game from scratch" C++ would have been a cool thing I really think this kind of tool is interesting, but is it worth it to use at school for a project that involves more than 3 programming persons ? What do we really learn in term of programming from using this kind of tool (I'm ok with python and js, but I hate C#) ? We could have use Ogre instead, even if we were learning direct x starting january...

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  • Would opencv be a good choice for image colour summarization?

    - by codecowboy
    I would like to analyse a set of hundreds of thousands of product images (clothing, electronic goods etc) and retrieve the dominant colours in each. I'm only interested in the top 3 or 4 colours. The aim is to achieve a degree of certainty that x image is mostly red or image y is mostly orange and blue. The images are likely to be colour jpegs of reasonable quality and approximately 100kb in size. I would like to use C# and the solution should run on a Linux server, preferably using open source libraries. Would opencv be a good choice for this? What other libraries or specific algorithms might be helpful?

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  • Database Schema for survey polling application with a default choice.

    - by user156814
    I have a survey application, where users can create surveys and give choices for every survey. Other users can choose their answers for the aurvey and then polls are taken to get the results of the survey. I already have the database schema for this Questions id, user_id, category_id, question_text, date_started Answers id, user_id, question_id, choice_id, explanation, date_added Choices id, question_id, choice_text As for now, users can choose their own choice answers to their surveys... but I want to be able to add a default "I dont care" or "I dont know" choice to every survey for people who simply dont care about the topic to take sides or who cant choose. So lets say theres a survey that asks who was a better president, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagon, or Richard Nixon... I want to be able to add a default "I dont care" option. I was thinking to just add that extra choice EVERY TIME a user creates a survey, but then I wouldn't have much control over the text for that choice after that survey has been created, and I want to know if theres a better way to do this, like create another table or something Thanks

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  • Combined Likelihood Models

    - by Lukas Vermeer
    In a series of posts on this blog we have already described a flexible approach to recording events, a technique to create analytical models for reporting, a method that uses the same principles to generate extremely powerful facet based predictions and a waterfall strategy that can be used to blend multiple (possibly facet based) models for increased accuracy. This latest, and also last, addition to this sequence of increasing modeling complexity will illustrate an advanced approach to amalgamate models, taking us to a whole new level of predictive modeling and analytical insights; combination models predicting likelihoods using multiple child models. The method described here is far from trivial. We therefore would not recommend you apply these techniques in an initial implementation of Oracle Real-Time Decisions. In most cases, basic RTD models or the approaches described before will provide more than enough predictive accuracy and analytical insight. The following is intended as an example of how more advanced models could be constructed if implementation results warrant the increased implementation and design effort. Keep implemented statistics simple! Combining likelihoods Because facet based predictions are based on metadata attributes of the choices selected, it is possible to generate such predictions for more than one attribute of a choice. We can predict the likelihood of acceptance for a particular product based on the product category (e.g. ‘toys’), as well as based on the color of the product (e.g. ‘pink’). Of course, these two predictions may be completely different (the customer may well prefer toys, but dislike pink products) and we will have to somehow combine these two separate predictions to determine an overall likelihood of acceptance for the choice. Perhaps the simplest way to combine multiple predicted likelihoods into one is to calculate the average (or perhaps maximum or minimum) likelihood. However, this would completely forgo the fact that some facets may have a far more pronounced effect on the overall likelihood than others (e.g. customers may consider the product category more important than its color). We could opt for calculating some sort of weighted average, but this would require us to specify up front the relative importance of the different facets involved. This approach would also be unresponsive to changing consumer behavior in these preferences (e.g. product price bracket may become more important to consumers as a result of economic shifts). Preferably, we would want Oracle Real-Time Decisions to learn, act upon and tell us about, the correlations between the different facet models and the overall likelihood of acceptance. This additional level of predictive modeling, where a single supermodel (no pun intended) combines the output of several (facet based) models into a single prediction, is what we call a combined likelihood model. Facet Based Scores As an example, we have implemented three different facet based models (as described earlier) in a simple RTD inline service. These models will allow us to generate predictions for likelihood of acceptance for each product based on three different metadata fields: Category, Price Bracket and Product Color. We will use an Analytical Scores entity to store these different scores so we can easily pass them between different functions. A simple function, creatively named Compute Analytical Scores, will compute for each choice the different facet scores and return an Analytical Scores entity that is stored on the choice itself. For each score, a choice attribute referring to this entity is also added to be returned to the client to facilitate testing. One Offer To Predict Them All In order to combine the different facet based predictions into one single likelihood for each product, we will need a supermodel which can predict the likelihood of acceptance, based on the outcomes of the facet models. This model will not need to consider any of the attributes of the session, because they are already represented in the outcomes of the underlying facet models. For the same reason, the supermodel will not need to learn separately for each product, because the specific combination of facets for this product are also already represented in the output of the underlying models. In other words, instead of learning how session attributes influence acceptance of a particular product, we will learn how the outcomes of facet based models for a particular product influence acceptance at a higher level. We will therefore be using a single All Offers choice to represent all offers in our combined likelihood predictions. This choice has no attribute values configured, no scores and not a single eligibility rule; nor is it ever intended to be returned to a client. The All Offers choice is to be used exclusively by the Combined Likelihood Acceptance model to predict the likelihood of acceptance for all choices; based solely on the output of the facet based models defined earlier. The Switcheroo In Oracle Real-Time Decisions, models can only learn based on attributes stored on the session. Therefore, just before generating a combined prediction for a given choice, we will temporarily copy the facet based scores—stored on the choice earlier as an Analytical Scores entity—to the session. The code for the Predict Combined Likelihood Event function is outlined below. // set session attribute to contain facet based scores. // (this is the only input for the combined model) session().setAnalyticalScores(choice.getAnalyticalScores); // predict likelihood of acceptance for All Offers choice. CombinedLikelihoodChoice c = CombinedLikelihood.getChoice("AllOffers"); Double la = CombinedLikelihoodAcceptance.getChoiceEventLikelihoods(c, "Accepted"); // clear session attribute of facet based scores. session().setAnalyticalScores(null); // return likelihood. return la; This sleight of hand will allow the Combined Likelihood Acceptance model to predict the likelihood of acceptance for the All Offers choice using these choice specific scores. After the prediction is made, we will clear the Analytical Scores session attribute to ensure it does not pollute any of the other (facet) models. To guarantee our combined likelihood model will learn based on the facet based scores—and is not distracted by the other session attributes—we will configure the model to exclude any other inputs, save for the instance of the Analytical Scores session attribute, on the model attributes tab. Recording Events In order for the combined likelihood model to learn correctly, we must ensure that the Analytical Scores session attribute is set correctly at the moment RTD records any events related to a particular choice. We apply essentially the same switching technique as before in a Record Combined Likelihood Event function. // set session attribute to contain facet based scores // (this is the only input for the combined model). session().setAnalyticalScores(choice.getAnalyticalScores); // record input event against All Offers choice. CombinedLikelihood.getChoice("AllOffers").recordEvent(event); // force learn at this moment using the Internal Dock entry point. Application.getPredictor().learn(InternalLearn.modelArray, session(), session(), Application.currentTimeMillis()); // clear session attribute of facet based scores. session().setAnalyticalScores(null); In this example, Internal Learn is a special informant configured as the learn location for the combined likelihood model. The informant itself has no particular configuration and does nothing in itself; it is used only to force the model to learn at the exact instant we have set the Analytical Scores session attribute to the correct values. Reporting Results After running a few thousand (artificially skewed) simulated sessions on our ILS, the Decision Center reporting shows some interesting results. In this case, these results reflect perfectly the bias we ourselves had introduced in our tests. In practice, we would obviously use a wider range of customer attributes and expect to see some more unexpected outcomes. The facetted model for categories has clearly picked up on the that fact our simulated youngsters have little interest in purchasing the one red-hot vehicle our ILS had on offer. Also, it would seem that customer age is an excellent predictor for the acceptance of pink products. Looking at the key drivers for the All Offers choice we can see the relative importance of the different facets to the prediction of overall likelihood. The comparative importance of the category facet for overall prediction might, in part, be explained by the clear preference of younger customers for toys over other product types; as evident from the report on the predictiveness of customer age for offer category acceptance. Conclusion Oracle Real-Time Decisions' flexible decisioning framework allows for the construction of exceptionally elaborate prediction models that facilitate powerful targeting, but nonetheless provide insightful reporting. Although few customers will have a direct need for such a sophisticated solution architecture, it is encouraging to see that this lies within the realm of the possible with RTD; and this with limited configuration and customization required. There are obviously numerous other ways in which the predictive and reporting capabilities of Oracle Real-Time Decisions can be expanded upon to tailor to individual customers needs. We will not be able to elaborate on them all on this blog; and finding the right approach for any given problem is often more difficult than implementing the solution. Nevertheless, we hope that these last few posts have given you enough of an understanding of the power of the RTD framework and its models; so that you can take some of these ideas and improve upon your own strategy. As always, if you have any questions about the above—or any Oracle Real-Time Decisions design challenges you might face—please do not hesitate to contact us; via the comments below, social media or directly at Oracle. We are completely multi-channel and would be more than glad to help. :-)

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