Sean already gave you some ideas for smaller parts of the project, why don't you pick up one of those?

Well, since you're studying IT, I assume that you know quite a bit about different types of programming languages and paradigms. To compare two specific languages, have you tried looking at their wikipedia articles? They tend to be very detailled.

I didn't mean to imply that Mathematica would be unsuited for a commercial application - there are plenty of companies using Mathematica for all sorts of things. It's just that your initial post sounded a bit as though there's a client or boss in the picture and you're making decisions that are above your paygrade.

Now that you've clarified the academic nature of the project, I see no problem with Mathematica. If you're free to choose any language for this project, and development time is a factor, Mathematica is certainly a good bet, and you'll get to know a beautiful language.

Hi Aaron,

according to your profile, you're a student. I don't know if this is a project for class or for your thesis, but if you actually want to develop a piece of software that will be used in a company, there are many other things to consider. The best choice of programming language isn't determined just by how suitable it is for your problem, but also by things like existing expertise (developers, IT department / maintenance / support, end users) and costs / preferences / real or perceived pros and cons of certain types of languages (compiled/interpreted, higher/lower level, free/licensed, etc). Also, your program would handle highly sensitive data, so information security would be crucial - crucial to have, and crucial to be able to prove in an audit. Do you have to consider any of these points? (Because all of these considerations are certainly out of the scope of this site.)

On the other hand, if this project is just for fun, or a proof of principle, or a learning experience, or something to be used by fellow students and researchers, then Mathematica is a great choice. Even if you want to sell your program eventually and have to switch technologies for that, Mathematica is still a useful prototyping language. Just don't expect to be selling it within a few months. As far as help from forums goes, stick to Sean's suggestion. You will get the most out of any forum if you have a small, well-defined problem and it's obvious that you've put a lot of work into it already.

Okay then. Which language should I use? Which software should I use for the development? I started out with the UI design, is this wise? If not where should I start? Please help me with the work breakdown structure and which part I should isolate and work on. I can create the database but cannot add information as they company for which I am making the software will provide their employee details for entry into the system only once they've accepted the system. Thanks so much for replying. It's really helpful. Also I told them that I cannot base it through email connectivity, and simplified the system further. The functionalities I proposed have been attached below and broken into components. Please go through that and get back to me. Your help is extremely appreciated.

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Thanks so much for replying! The requirement specification has been attached for you to take a further look at.

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