Cost of development

[Polo]

Hello,


A friend of mine is looking for a developer but has no idea how much it would cost him, and he doesn't want to get ripped off
He wants to build something with a planning system, customers file, products file, and be able to create customer orders, and to be able to export a report of sales, amongst other things.

Any idea how much a developer should be paid for an application handling these features?

Thanks for the help!

[Blood]

First he needs to write a detailed spec of exactly what he would like the software to do and how he might like it to evolve in the future. Then decide if he wants it as a native desktop or web application. Then he 's got something to show developers for estimates.

Why not try something like: http://www.vworker.com/

[the.weavster]

Has he looked at Tryton?

It's in the Ubuntu repository but it's Python and PostgreSQL so it should work on alternative platforms too.

[Polo]

No, he wants something completely custom, designed to his specific needs.
And it has to be an application, nothing web based.

He's only looking for an average price, just to get the overall idea

[Blood]

And it has to be an application, nothing web based.

Why?

[Polo]

And it has to be an application, nothing web based.

Why?

Because that's what he wants

[Blood]

And it has to be an application, nothing web based.

Why?

Because that's what he wants

But why? This is the first question that will be asked. Web apps cost less, are easier to create, easier to maintain, easier to deploy, can be used on every platform. So why?

[Polo]

He needs advanced features on the calendar, for instance, which are hardly do-able with a web app, even with jquery and such frameworks.
Plus the application is for his company, they don't care about multiplaform, they just want something reliable.
But anyway I need to find the price for his specifications, which are not going to change

[Blood]

He needs advanced features on the calendar, for instance, which are hardly do-able with a web app, even with jquery and such frameworks.
Plus the application is for his company, they don't care about multiplaform, they just want something reliable.
But anyway I need to find the price for his specifications, which are not going to change

jQuery is a javascript library (not a framework) and not really applicable to web applications. Javascript is more like the icing on the cake, i.e. to give those, that have it enabled, a better, more dynamic user experience.

All of what you have described is actually easier as a web application, plus reliability is not decided by platform. The thing is that some form of database will need to be used and a GUI of some sort will need to be realised. The business logic is really moot because, to be honest, this doesn't sound like a complicated application.

What are the advanced features on the calendar? Surely you just store data against a date?

[Polo]

GUI features are needed (move, resize, right click menu, etc...) on the calendar. That's only part of the reason it needs to be an application anyway.
It is a complex application as they are already using a commercial one, which does not completely fulfill their needs and is too expensive.

Any idea of an average price anyway?

[PMV]

Of course not. You can not go to an company and say, hey how
expensive are you? If you want to know how much something
cost, you need to know what this "something" is. If you want to build
a house, you go to an architect with an idea and explains him what
you wants. Then he creates a plan and after that he will say how much
this will cost. Not before.

And i don't think that depends if it is web-application or not. It depends
on what do you need, what should it be and who should do it.

If you want to calculate a price, you can think about how expensive is
a (good) programmer by one hour of work ... then you multiply it
to a day and then you can think about how many days and how many
programmers are needed.

MFG PMV

[Polo]

Ok, I'll see then, thanks.

[Blood]

GUI features are needed (move, resize, right click menu, etc...) on the calendar.

Still, that is easier on a web app!

Any idea of an average price anyway?

No, because you haven't told anyone what's needed. Is there a spec?

[Polo]

No, no specs, he just told me what he wants, but I can't go in details unfortunately.
Easier on a web app, probably, accurate, reliable and fast when there is more than 1000 items that can be moved/resized, I'm not sure.

[Tenaja]

Your question is as open ended as asking "what is the price of a car?" Well, sure, somebody could give you some "realistic" range... $2,000 for a used old car, and $1,000,000 for a supercar. But what does that really tell you? Nothing. The person answering the question needs to know what type of car is required to give a realistic answer. Even knowing you don't want a car at one extreme or the other doesn't help much, unfortunately.

In the same way, a coder must know exactly what the code needs to do. Even worse, is that there is no "average" project, whereas at least there is an "average" car. Five buttons and a calendar can do anything from guess your weight to calculate the trajectory around the moon...and the two are not going to cost the same. For you to get an accurate cost, you need a precise definition. You don't say where you are, but in the USA, consultants charge anywhere from $30/hr to $300...but sometimes the $300/hr guy ends up cheaper, because he is 20x faster than the "cheap" guy. The more precise your software definition is, the more accurate your quote will be. With a definition, someone can map out a procedure (or library) for each definition point. Without it, they have to ASSuME what you want. If you can't define it ahead of time, then you need to find someone who will just bill by the hour. Then you hope he remains available through to the end, and listens to your requests throughout the project.

FWIW, a HUGE part of the work in any project is in the definition. Since "we" (forum members) are coders who write for ourselves, we often write the definition as we go along...think of a new feature; just add it. Got a game idea? Throw up a few sprites and add key controls. Add the maps as you go. That doesn't usually work so well with consultants though...

Good luck.