jhaagmans wrote:
Um...no. �I'm not trying to pry into your requirements, but I *am* telling you that your requirements must make sense, or else your project is doomed.
You are being asked to build an F-16 with your choice of a bicycle or a moped as engine. �Oh, and it has to have a fuel efficiency of 30 MPG, and don't spend too much time developing it. �Your requirements do not make sense.
I'm not bound to using PHP, Ruby or anything. I'm just bound to a certain budget which limits my possibilities. And that will limit the speed of the application. It will be a matter of as fast as possible though, which is why I want to do this using the right tool.
That makes a lot more sense.
The requirements make sense. At least, to me they do. He also has his reasons to believe this can be done on a low budget. And the thing is, I don't doubt it.
I do. At least, I doubt that it can be done on a low budget by *you*. I don't mean that as an insult, just that based on the questions you've asked in this thread, your expertise seems to be elsewhere, so it will take you more time and effort for this project than it would someone who does this kind of stuff all the time.
The goal of the application is to increase the success rate of my client's business. Say it's at 1:1000 right now. If I can get it up to 1:500 (which is a matter of speed in this case) I will have myself one happy client. However, if I can get it up to 1:400, I will have an even happier client. If I exceed the budget by more than say, 10%, I will have an angry client. So I need to increase the speed by as much as possible within the budget.
In other words, your client will not be willing to pay that extra 10% even if he gets an extra 20% beyond what he was promised in success increase. Right? If that's so, dump the client. He wants the world on a shoestring.
So again I ask you to stop questioning the why.
I hear this from clients too from time to time. It is almost always bad advice. If you can't say "*why* do you need this" to your client, then you cannot help your client optimally. Requirements are not articles of faith.
If it's not possible, I will find that out and so will he. But I do want to give this an honest chance.
Then ask questions and listen to the advice you've been getting in this thread. Better yet, find a TCP/IP/real-time systems weenie to work with. Right now, this project has "Daily WTF" written all over it -- and that will result in a *very* angry client.
Best,