Hey everyone! I'm diving into programming and I'm looking to create a cut and fill calculator as a personal project. The goal is to compare a natural terrain surface against a designed surface to figure out how much cutting and filling is necessary to achieve that design. I'm drawing inspiration from a software called 'Virtual Surveyor' to understand the coding requirements and get ideas for future features I might want to add. Any tips or resources you could share would be greatly appreciated! Thanks a lot!
5 Answers
Assuming you're just looking for cut and fill data from point calculations, if speed isn't a priority, language choice won’t matter much. Start with understanding how to parse your file type—it can take a bit of time but is essential. For the calculations, it sounds like simple subtraction will suffice, and outputting to a CSV is usually a simple process. If you're looking for a full app experience, that will take more time, but it can be manageable over a couple of weekends.
There are libraries available in various programming languages that can help you work with file formats like GeoTiff. If you want to progress smoothly, using existing libraries for your workflow could be very beneficial. However, if you're looking to build a full competitor product, be prepared for complex architectural decisions and potential costs. You might want to team up with an experienced technical co-founder for that.
To be honest, the complexity of your calculator could escalate quickly. If you're using data processing, it's smart to lean on Python and maybe even explore Rust for efficiency. One solid project can really showcase your skills, especially if it's well-documented on GitHub. Just don't overestimate the scale; you probably won't need millions of lines of code right away!
Could you clarify if Python is still the best route given my project vision?
I suggest starting small. Maybe focus on identifying a single feature you'd like to extract from a specific file format? Also, look into using existing tools or libraries that could save you a lot of coding time.
I've clarified my response in the first reply; is this approach still too ambitious?
As a junior developer, I think this project could be pretty straightforward. Since it mainly involves calculations on a large dataset, I would recommend using Python through Jupyter Notebook or Google Colab (Colab is easier to set up). You can import your data, use dataframes to visualize it, and then run your calculations in Python. Just keep in mind, if you want it automated to process data continuously, you might need to move it to a server, which is more complex.
You make a good point! Python definitely seems like a good choice for this. Thanks for the insight!
Thanks for the feedback! I clarified in my first comment that I just need a simple calculator to compare terrain models and output cut and fill volumes.