[scotty2004]

Hi, i am going to be developing a program for local hobbyists to help run events/shows
-> think of it as a dog showing type events.

I have experience in both java and c++. However, this will be the first non academic related project I will be embarking on, and i would like help deciding which would be the best programming language and tools to use. I am open to suggestions and advantage/disadvantage of the tools in relation to the below tasks. I do not mind having to learn another language such as python or something if it will be better/easier to do this with. I am interested in getting this done with minimum development time -> not so interested in performance as long as it is reasonable I don’t think it will be an issue it will not be a huge program.

These are the main tasks of the software:

1) The software will need to store data preferably in a database that it can search; update etc (must be reliable). This will be the main use of the software modifying the database depending on who turned up to the event, entering their personal details etc - > can i link c++/java to a database, what DBMS to use??, easy way to do this??? OR Will it be better to use some other kind of storage as this may make packaging the product more difficult (see point 4 below).

2) The software will need to print out a type of "catalogue" based on the database data. This will contain data listing who entered which category of the competition, as well as who wan that category, names of show judges etc. There will be many pages of data but all directly coming from the database and a standard a cover page should be printed. -> whats the best way to do this??? how do I control page layout/pagebreak, font etc???

3) The software will also need to have an easy to use GUI the people using are likely to have limited computer experience. - > will java be better in this respect? (a lot faster to implement GUI than it would be in c++ ?? using drag drop? like NetBeans IDE is this drag drop possible in c++?)

4) Finally, This software will be used from windows machines only. How do i package this software easily just like commercial products so it can be installed/uninstalled or simply ran on double click (like an exe i think this may be where c++ is better). i need the installation procedure (if any) to be as easy as possible, (i.e if i use java they will need to download java first, but i think c++ will just work of the shelf so to speak as an single exe? Not requiring the user to download anything special, is this correct?)

I am looking for help here to simply choose the best tools and pointers in the right direction, on how to do the above things with the tools.

If anyone has any pointers then please let me know.