ACPO guidelines dissertation help

Greetings,

You could write this in any language. There is nothing about the problem that suggests that any one language would be significantly better than another. You should choose a language that you are comfortable with, one that allows you to get the job done.

I'd write this in Python, someone else in Perl, someone else in C#, etc.

How much programming experience do you have?

-David

I'm not sure that I follow how taking something that is seen as not helping, and turning it into a software program for those who feel that they are under-trained is necessarily going to help anything.

Also, I'm a bit unclear as to how a "set of procedure questions on what has happened so far on the case" is going to help, when the procedures should be known and understood prior to the case commencing.

Maybe instead of a software program of the nature that you're suggesting, you could develop a training program based on the guidelines.

The ACPO good practice guidelines are just that, guidelines. I think you are talking about making an application that will guide someone through a step by step process or procedure. This is something very different.

Also, if people feel under trained then perhaps first they should seek further education in this area. If they are following a procedure and something changes or goes wrong they may cause irreversible damage to an evidential item.

It's a good idea to have a set of processes and guidelines, but a good background knowledge of your discipline is very important.

Maybe instead of a software program of the nature that you're suggesting, you could develop a training program based on the guidelines.

This is a good idea.

I take it that this is aimed at investigators who are not forensically trained?? I.e General criminal investigators? I like the idea of what you're trying to do, particularly if it trains / guides investigating officers. I think what you're trying to achieve is needed- especially by investigators who deal with electronic evidence as part of a wider investigation but are not up to speed with digital evidence handling…….

However, I question the benefit of this to you as a dissertation for a Computer Forensics MSc.

Something like this can be very helpful - if thought through properly and if it addresses some of the caveats other people have already raised.

I would strongly recommend not to worry about anything like a programming language for now, but first focus on the actual setup, intended audience, etc. And I would even more recommend to read the excellent book The Checklist Manifesto as I think that can be very helpful in outlining your approach (I recommend that book also to other readers in this thread btw).

Perhaps you could aim it at first responders?

Yet I am having difficulty in deciding which programming language to create this piece of software in. So please please please any suggestions would be most grateful!

That is an implementation question, and should be evaluated from a design perspective given a reasonably stable design, will language X make it easy to implement, debug and maintain your design? Not to mention extend it and modify it.

It's like buying a computer for forensics work you don't buy a computer that the software you are going to use can't run on. You don't choose a programming language that doesn't support your software design and devlopment process over the life cycle of the product. Nor do you choose a language for which you can't get trained developers or qualified support, no matter how well it works in other respects … but I'm probably getting too professional.

I think that once you have a reasonably complete design, including when and how it is to be used, you know what kind of support you need graphics, video, database, etc. Then you look around for solutions.

For example, if you find that this software would be best as a smartphone app , you look for smartphone software development solutions. How you would find that out is probably part of the dissertation work.

You also need to be clear on what your focus is. For a MSc dissertation, I would suspect it is not so much the end result, as the requirements developments and the design process – your advisor/tutor/whatever the term is can fill you in on that. The mere coding is probably a subordinate matter – at least, that's how it strikes me. In that context, you use whatever language that you know well enough to let you finish the job in the time available.

Its ACPO, shouldnt Brainf*** be the language to use ?
( http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainfuck )

Reading the op I reckon you could knock up at least a prototype using a set of HTML pages.
Flash is another possibility.