Jason’s Random Thoughts

It’s that time of week again.  Time to release yet another version of QuickStudy.

There aren’t too many big updates to speak of this week, as I’ve been working to get the application converted to run on SymbianOS and Linux-based cell phones.  This is the next big challenge where all the money is.

That said, Version 0.0.1.7 (Alpha) of QuickStudy corrects some of the hiccups that have been found over the past week, and now allows people to delete a quiz from the database.  On top of this, there have been a few speed tweaks made to the software, so it should be a little quicker for anyone who’s running this on a machine with fewer than 425 MHz under the hood.

Where’s It Going Now?

QuickStudy is going to be one of the first multi-platform projects I’ve worked on without the benefit of a skilled team of co-developers.  While I don’t see any real big challenges in the near future, the development will likely start to slow down from here.  The basics are now working (for the most part) with Windows Mobile, and a SymbianOS version of the software will be made available in the next two weeks.  There will also be a version of the application available for Linux-powered mobile phones and, oddly enough, one for the iPhone as well.

Although I’ve only presented the application to a very limited group of people (about 60, as of this writing), it’s been met with a great response and I’ve had several people ask me where to get it.  Of course, I let them know where to download it, but Windows Mobile devices just aren’t too popular in this country.  Hence, the reason for the SymbianOS, Linux and iPhone ports of the application.  To make things even more complicated for me, the latest Android SDK has been downloaded and is awaiting a quiet two hour break at work so that I can whip out my notebook and get some testing done.

The Last 0.0.1.*

It should also be mentioned that 0.0.1.7 will be the last release under the 0.0.1.* line.  The next release will be under 0.0.2, and will have some of the nicer question/answer options that I had originally planned to put into the application.  The logic behind the repeating algorithm will also be hammered out a little bit more as I’m already seeing a few limitations with just the few hours of testing I’ve had with this latest release.

So there you have it!  The next version is ready for download and development is now consuming all of the time I had once allocated for blogging (unfortunately).  Hopefully this will not be the case for much longer.

Is there anything you’d like to see in QuickStudy on any of the platforms?  Feel free to leave me a comment, and I’ll be sure to get back to you regarding it.

Download the latest release of QuickStudy here.

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After using the program for three days, I’ve found quite a few areas that needed work and made the changes with all haste. So far, the initial version of the application has been downloaded a total of 22 times (much more than I had expected for an Alpha release), but that’s all I really know. I do not collect information about who downloads the application or whether it’s being used or not, since it’s really none of my business if the application is free to everyone.

Ah, but I’m getting off track!

QuickStudy 0.0.1.3 is now available for download to all Windows Mobile 5 and 6-based devices and comes with quite a few small updates to the application. Fixes include:

• new Zoom-Level function added to Quiz screen to make reading easier
• new Database Updating software installed for seamless upgrades of all future QuickStudy releases
• faster load time of Quiz information on front page
• faster Quiz Imports
• faster Question/Answer loading in Study screens
• elimination of pesky glitch when pressing “Review” button in Study screen before showing answer
• elimination of (most) character-based errors when importing Quizzes
• better random question engine
• Study screen remembers personal settings

This is pretty much the gist of what I’ve done to the application since I started using it full time on my own PDA two days ago. There’s still lots of little tweaks and whatnot that need to be put into this application, and I’m always open to suggestions.

One small thing that I should mention is that if you’ve installed the first version of the application, you’ll need to eliminate the initial database, then install this version. The database is contained in the benkyo.sdf file found in the root directory of your PDA and, once you delete it, QuickStudy will rebuild it the next time you start the application. This should be the first and only time you’ll ever need to do this, as the next releases will make use of a proper upgrading mechanism.

If theres something you feel is missing from QuickStudy, feel free to contact me at jason[at]j2fi.net, and I’ll be sure to get back to you.

You can download the latest version of QuickStudy here.

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