BetCalc App

Updated 30 May 2012 – Work on my BetCalc Android app has been on hold for a while, as I’ve been studying for the ISEB/ISTQB certification in Software Testing. As I progress through my revision for this, I’ll then put into practice the software testing techniques and processes I’ve learnt and also try and use some software testing tools. This will 1) provide a real-life testing scenario 2) ensure a quality-tested app is released.

Here’s a work in progress screen shot, of a very early version, where I’ve been concentrating on the functionality and the calculational coding rather than the design/look and feel. The screen shot is taken from the Android emulator/AVD running on my laptop.

Original Post:
BetCalc is the work in progress name for my first Android App, which will give me an insight into designing and developing an Android App. If its of sufficient quality I may also release it on the Android Market / Google Play etc. My current plan is to also to develop something similar as an HTML5 web app, to get more practice in HTML5 user interfaces and JavaScript.

The idea behind BetCalc is to allow the easy calculation of a winning bet, aimed at the most common bets such as Accumulators and Perms (such as Lucky 15, Yankee, Patent etc.)

When lucky enough to have a winning bet its always good to know how much you stand to win and there are various options – i) you can write it all out on paper which is a good test of your maths skills ii) you can use a website, of which there are quite a few, with bet calculators either on bookies own websites or separate betting-related websites iii) use the existing apps on iOs and Android etc. Option iv) is to rely on the bookie to calculate it correctly – they most likely will, but you never know, they might make a mistake.

The BetCalc app on Android will be a useful test app as it involves the following development:-

A user interface with a mixture of different inputs – including Bet Type, Number of Winning Lines, each individual Winning Line, the Stake, the Winnings and a Calculate button
A calculation engine to calculate the winnings, which ranges from quite simple for Accumulators to complicated for large permutation bets such as Yankee, Super Yankee, Goliath etc.

We’ve worked with Pat Walsh on a number of very different projects, from interactive video projects to mobile apps. His work is very thorough and has quickly become an essential and important phase of all the production work we do at Storythings. He’s thorough, diligent, and a pleasure to work with.

Matt Locke, Director, Storythings

Pat has been absolutely incredible at testing each of our projects he works on. He’s very professional, organised and diligent. I look forward to using him again in the future.

Oliver Thurtle, Director of Technology, Drum

Couldn’t recommend Pat highly enough. He goes beyond what you’d expect of a QA tester, commenting more broadly on user experience and even design. He’s quick, efficient and thorough – couldn’t ask for any more.

Rob Calvert, Director, Click

Pat performs comprehensive website testing for us, across all the main browsers and platforms, including mobile devices. His flexible approach to testing and clear feedback enable us to have confidence that the business end of our website is still working smoothly after system updates and changes.

Steve Liu, Manager, Wicked Lasers

Pat Walsh provided Kingston Valdes with a professional and personable service that was excellent value. The site was built and tested quickly, we are delighted with the results, and we have already had positive feedback from some of our clients. If you’re thinking of building a new site or adapting an existing one, I’d certainly recommend speaking with Pat about it.

Kathy Valdes, Kingston Valdes

Pat came to Composed to respond to our (increasingly urgent) need of QA on mobile and web and I can testify he more than fulfilled the task. On the Android side, his very structured approach (first exploratory testing, then focus on defining test plans for a variety of scopes) and his clear knowledge of the latest mobile technologies have quickly paid off. He was involved directly with the developers (including myself) and this very dynamic relationship enabled us to annihilate bugs swiftly and efficiently.

David Ferrand, Android Developer, Composed

Pat Walsh fixed my site within hours of my contacting him – his WordPress website fix service clearly works!

Douglas Green, Douglas Software

We hired Pat to help with QA of a music streaming app. We needed someone with that magic “6th sense” of where the bugs are lurking; the ones which developers tend to miss. Pat more than fulfilled this need, with highly methodical approach and a great eye for detail.

Subsequently Pat has provided QA services for a personal app project of mine, finding a significant issue which had been lurking for some time.

Pat is a real asset to any team – highly competent technically but also easy going and a great guy to work with. Highly recommended!

Andrew Ebling, Head of App Development, Composed

Pat is an excellent one-stop-shop for testing Apps and Websites. He is a self-starter who just knows what needs to be done and gets on with it, and is responsive to requests for any specific testing requirements. He provides test plans and reports as a matter of course and was a pleasure to work with. I will definitely be working with Pat again if the opportunity arises.

Andrew Birley, PM, Storythings