need your advice

[kamal24]

hi ,i am from algeria
i ve been learning C++ on my own for a while (books mainly)
But my major in college is "system control engineering"
i'm preparing my master degree
i like programming,and we have no programming companies in the country
so there is no way to get any programming job or experience
and even if there is some posts in some companies
"there must be a diploma or a degree in that major"
and i want to make some money by programming
learning with the online open courses,tutorials and books

I had to go with the long version of my question because i'll
make my life's decisions based on your answers
"persue programming or try something else"
and if you have a personal experience or someone else's you know
don't hesitate to mention it

My questions are:
with all these big corporations and the elite progrmmers out there
1.what are my chances of making a software and sell it online?
2.and how much time does it take to come up with a software?
i know it depends, but just the max,the min and the medium time?
3.what are your recommandations and advices?
and be firm especially about this one
4.am i been unrealistic or keeping my hopes too high?
5.is "learning with the online open courses,tutorials and books" sufficient?

I'm not saying i want to be the next bill gates or rockefeller
but just to be money independent
thanks in advance

[Framework]

kamal24 wrote:

"1.what are my chances of making a software and sell it online?"

That depends on the software and your marketing strategy.

kamal24 wrote:

"2.and how much time does it take to come up with a software?"

That depends on the target audience, size and complexity of the software. There's no fixed time in which software needs to begin production unless someone with higher authority says so.

kamal24 wrote:

"3.what are your recommandations and advices?"

First, get an idea for a product. Once you have a general idea, look at the competition and see what features their software has and look at how they are selling their product. More importantly, look at their sales to see if their product is making a profit; if it's not, then it's not worth building. If the general public are not buying a piece of software from multiple vendors then it's possible that the software is simply not wanted by the general public. Furthermore, look at the fields where software is becoming more demanding.

kamal24 wrote:

"4.am i been unrealistic or keeping my hopes too high?"

Again, that depends on what software you're going to build and who your competition is. We all need to look towards the light and start heading in that direction. What you said was out of fear.

kamal24 wrote:

"5.is "learning with the online open courses,tutorials and books" sufficient?"

That depends on what courses and/or books they are.

_Wazzak

[helios]

1.what are my chances of making a software and sell it online?

It all depends on what you make. Judging from your phrasing, I think the question you're really asking is "how good do I need to be in order to make money selling software". The answer is that success is not highly correlated with quality of software. If it was, there wouldn't be any companies making money off shovelware. Presentation and the appearance of usefulness are often more important that actual usefulness.

2.and how much time does it take to come up with a software?
i know it depends, but just the max,the min and the medium time?

What do you mean "come up"?
If you mean "come up with an idea for a program", then there's no real answer. Creativity is hard to measure because it's not clear where it begins and where it ends. Is that sandwich you're eating helping you come up with something? Does sleeping help?
If you mean "develop a complete program", then the answer is somewhere between "a couple minutes" and "infinity", since some programs are extremely simple, while others can never be completed (for one reason or another).

3.what are your recommandations and advices?

Regarding what?

5.is "learning with the online open courses,tutorials and books" sufficient?

Sufficient for what?

Making money by selling your own software on the Internet is a form of freelancing. Freelancing is an unstable source of income. While it has its perks, particularly if you live in a periphery country, it's also relatively risky. Personally, I wouldn't do it if I could help it except in addition to a day job, as an extra source of income.