[Plan] A few choices

Here are a few important choices before starting to actually sketch up the program.

The name: Mediocre Chess

And why this mediocre name? Well, that's exactly what it's gonna turn out to be, so should fit well in the end.

The programming language: Java

Advantages

• There aren't many Java chess engines out there, meaning I can't cheat too much by looking at other's work.


• It's an accessible language for anyone. Just download the Java software, pull up your favourite text editor and you're ready to go (after plowing through 200 pages of instructions of course).


• The Java API is huge (the main advantage of Java in general). For example you got a premade Hashtable there (I just know I'm gonna put that in somewhere). Is the API fast, efficient and bug-free? Not really, but darned convenient.


• I already know it!

Drawbacks

• There aren't many Java chess engines out there, meaning I can't cheat too much by looking at other's work. :)


• Java isn't known for its blazing speed, and a chess program needs speed to work well. But considering my goals, the speed of Java will do fine.

With this done, it's time to move on to some more specific choices.