Blog

By Stefan Sojka

I just read this article about the Physics of Angry Birds in Wired Magazine on-line:  http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/10/physics-of-angry-birds/  It made me think about how such 'simple' looking games are programmed and the maths and geometry built in...

Programming is generally fairly unmathematical – sure, it may seem like a similar type of activity that similar types of people might perform, but without the maths component, programming is quite limited to instructions and functions devoid of physical behaviours – motion, shape and change over time...

The better a programmer understands maths as well as programming, the better the motion is going to be, which is why a lot of programs and games seem to have rather clunky motion... the programmer simply wasn't that good at maths.

Any good coder ought to have a pretty good maths qualification to complement their programming abilities.  Ask for their resume.  Look for the evidence of mathematical genius. :-)  We have used a couple of maths genius coders over the years – and it makes a huge difference to how their finished work turns out.  Everything is smoother, and their ability to get things done is far better than programmers who only learned programming code.

Most animation and video programs, such as Adobe After Effects or Flash have the ability to key in mathematical formulas, outside of their standard presets (which are largely mathematical in foundation as well).  Anyone who knows how to get in and tweak the formulas is going to have a whole new level of control and ability to perform what you might require.

Programming is powerful, but throw in some pure maths and you make magic happen.

By Stefan Sojka

While it is common knowledge that many people use overseas companies to take on programming jobs, due to the lower wages and costs, what they often forget are the issues that may arise:

• Communication barriers may exist, not just with language, but with time zones and different business practices or standards
• Sometimes a local ‘agent’ might take on a job, then outsource it overseas without the client knowing or having much say in it.  Then, when the project hits a stumbling block, things can get very difficult, even to the point of the agent losing control and the project failing completely
• It can be difficult to deal with any disputes or legal issues, since the outsourced company may operate under different national laws.  The channels of resolution that we are very fortunate to have in Australia may not be available
• It can happen that the overseas company may quote very low to get a job and then introduce all kinds of additional costs as the project unfolds, once they know you are powerless to take the project elsewhere
• Projects can be developed with proprietary code that you don’t own and can’t take elsewhere, so you are stuck with the development company no matter how badly the project turns out
• It might be difficult to get even the basic specifications of the job right, if you are not able to meet with the programming team in person to work it all out.

If you are considering outsourcing overseas, keep the above points in mind.  In the end it might be cheaper to pay higher local rates in order to guarantee that the job is done right first time, with peace of mind, the security of knowing you can deal directly with the company involved and the protection of our strong local laws, regulations and insurance.

If you want to take advantage of the many benefits of outsourcing programming overseas, it is often advisable to go through a local contact or company with an overseas office where the work is done.  This way you may pay a bit of a premium to cover the local costs of managing the project, but because you are engaging a local company, you will have more protection for fair trading, a local person to deal with and the extra confidence of working with a company that you have a better chance of assessing and determining their credibility and credentials.  Just be sure to do your homework before getting started.

It can work out very well indeed, so long as you are prepared and aware of the risks.