Triton Bore Ariel

A development blog logging the steps I took to writing my very own custom AIM client over my winter break.

So here's a huge roll of diagrams and GUI sketches. I don't expect it to look superbly pretty or anything. Function over design, for now.

Most recent dependency diagram trying to implement the Model-View-Controller pattern (without luck). I'm trying Model-View-ViewModel instead because that's what XAML and WPF are designed for.



Really old diagram.



Super simple state machine diagram for the general client.



Tabbed IMs and sign in screen.



Buddy list.



Like I said, working on a new diagram. I'll be diagramming the entire way. Whoopee -__-"

Pro-tip: Don't use actual screen names in your GUI mock up or diagrams! That way you don't have to blur or edit them out!

Pro-tip: Please exercise good hand-writing techniques so that others (particularly people on your development team) can read your diagrams!

Pro-tip: Do NOT use lined paper to diagram. If you can code an AIM client, you're old enough to write without lines.

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About this blog

Hi, my name is Anton! I'm currently a sophomore at MIT in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy.

In this past fall of 2009, I took a class, 6.005: Elements of Software Construction, where we learned how to develop software from start to finish. This included brainstorming functionality and issues, diagramming code dependencies and state machines, implementing our designs, and writing unit tests.

Our third and final project was to write a simple instant messenger client and a server to handle the connections from multiple instances of the client.

So, I've been eying the Open AIM SDK for a while now, because frankly, the official AIM client is bloated. On this blog, I'll be posting up diagrams and design issues that I run into while developing my own AIM client which I've codenamed "Ariel" over my 2009 winter break.