Next Steps

We've gone about as far as we can with the simple data store we have right now. To add more functionality to the site will need more data identified.

For example, I know the site needs to track contests. What sort of data is kept for each contest? What sort of data is kept for a contestant? For a judge? And so on.

This will be a lot like designing a relational database. The App Engine data store doesn't support the same set of features as an SQL compliant relational database, but you should really design your data store thinking that way. Figuring out the relationships between the entities in your data store, the cardinality, etc, all helps in the design process.

I'm a big fan of starting small and working my way up in database design. I've seen too much time spent on hugely detailed database designs, only to find something unexpected that requires the entire thing to be redesigned.

So, start small.

Contests

The site allows contests to be run, so obviously I'm going to have a Contest object that stores data about a contest. The data elements I come up with here define how I look at contests.

For example, is a contest something that has dates associated with it? If so, one date or more? Is there a deadline? Is there a starting date? Is there a limited number of participants? Can there be more than one contest administrator?

Some of these questions can be answered later, but as soon as I put a field into my Contest object, I'm starting to answer questions about contests.

So again, I'll start small so I don't back myself into a corner.

Here are the basic fields I'll store for contests: name, description, contest administrator, application date, starting date, and deadline.

I'm sure I'll add more later, but for now that will get me started. The basic idea is that a contest can be created, but members cannot apply to be a contestant until the application date. The contest doesn't actually start until the starting date (this might affect availability of the contest forum, for example). Submissions can be made from the starting date to the deadline.

A contest is created by the site administrator, who assigns a contest administrator to it. The contest administrator can then edit the contest data, approve applications, etc.

This is a simple start, but will allow us to explore some more new techniques. As we go we'll add in applications for contests, submissions, judging, etc, expanding the Contest object as needed.