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Software Development
GSD Software is dedicated to getting stuff done with software. Our specialty is in developing cutting-edge user-interfaces with strong networking components. We truly embrace the network as the computer philosophy, recognizing that despite the diverse technologies available, there is one Internet. This outlook takes down walls that are obstacles to achieving the best possible solutions for our clients' needs.
We may not be your best choice for setting up a standard Exchange server environment at a Fortune 500 company, or creating an accounting system in Microsoft Access for your small business. While we are quite capable of doing so, this is not really what GSD Software does. We aren't who you call when you need vanilla ice cream... you call us when you need a cherry on top.
Clearly, software is our strong suit at GSD Software, but it doesn't end there. Our experience with virtual worlds has been flavored by own experience developing network applications. For example, by seeing Second Life as just another network application, we were able to use existing web based tools to provide services within Second Life for lower-costs with higher-reliabilities than previously possible.
Combine this perspective with our founders' backgrounds as executives for well known Internet e-commerce companies, and you have an unstoppable team for creating and monetizing new software concepts. Whether you have a variation on an existing idea, or something completely off-the-wall, GSD Software is your best choice when you need to do the impossible.
Web Application Development
Our lives are more dependent on the internet in more ways than were imaginable even just a few years ago. Software continues to leave the desktop in force, so we can take our apps with us on the go.
Whether you are adding new interfaces to a legacy system, or building a new project from the ground up, don't leave your programs in the dark when you leave your desktop behind. Web apps are always on, universal available applications with no installation. And these days, except in the mobile arena, you hardly have to skimp on features previously only available to desktop apps.
Rich-Client Development using Ajax
Web-browsers are more powerful than ever before, providing the tools to build full-featured applications directly in the browser, while remaining light-weight like web pages.
jQuery
This is our preferred development platform for client-side web application development. jQuery's powerful selection engine provides a stable platform for cross-browser javascript development, saving a bundle in development costs, while providing a better end product.
Script.aculo.us / prototype.js
Have legacy Web 2.0 content that needs some updating? Script.aculo.us was a favorite before the release of jQuery. Based on prototype, which was one of the first mainstream libraries for abstracting the complexities of cross-browser development away from the implementation.
Our team has been using prototype since early 2005. In combination with Ajax.Net, we have found prototype to provide a better offering for Ajax than Microsoft.
Ext JS / GWT / YUI
Our developers can use any other popular library as needed, for a seamless integration with your existing Ajax implementations.
Custom
Most of our software developers have been doing Ajax since the last 90's, long before the term Ajax was coined. We can handle any of your legacy javascript web application development needs.
Rich-Client Development using Browser Plugins
To make use of the most advanced features, the browser can use a little help. Be it fancy interactive menus, or a 3D virtual world, we know the tools to do the impossible.
Unity
Unity isn't a light-weight, it's a full-fledged professional game engine. This exciting 3D platform brings 3D to the web, providing a plugin for OpenGL and DirectX on Windows and Mac OS X (see also Wii and iPhone).
With an ever increasing install base, Unity is becoming a compelling option for the end-user side of web application development.
Flash / Flex
Adobe's web platforms are well known for its interactive content, and our developers are well versed in this technology as well, using ActionScript since version 1.
Java Applets
Before ActionScript, Java applets were the only way to create a truly real-time interactive experience on the web. Java is the only web plugin that can truly rival Flash's install base as a universal, cross-platform client technology for the web.
Silverlight
Microsoft's answer to Flash offers additional ways to offer rich client applications on your website. In addition to its Windows Media components (as used by NetFlix), a strong selling point is that it's build using Microsoft's .Net family of languages.
Specialty Application Development
At GSD Software, we have a wide range of experience working with new and exciting platforms. We are used to working on the bleeding edge of multimedia and software technologies, which require different methods of attack and expectations. Essentially, we are experts at becoming experts.
Multimedia Applications
Windows Media Components
We have a history of working with Windows Media technologies, such as Windows Media Player stores and Digital Rights Management. In fact, two of our founders previously built DRM Networks, the most successful third-party dedicated Windows Media DRM license provider.
Windows Media Center Edition Apps
We have worked with the Windows Media Center platform from Microsoft, their answer to TiVo. Microsoft executives have described our work as having the most fluid animations and fastest load times of any software built for the system they had seen.
Our secret for this project was the perfect combination of Flash and DHTML to pre-load video data to minimize network load times and memory footprint. In other words we found and used the right tools for the job.
Audio / Video Transcoding
We have experience in audio and video encoding and transcoding in both Windows Media and MPEG formats, for clients ranging from the tiniest project through Fortune 500 companies.
Specialty Applications
Nintendo Wii
Our game and virtual world systems can be targeted for the Nintendo Wii Shopping area or for DVD games. We use the same technology as the hit game, World of Goo for development.
Windows Taskbar Applications
We have experience working with a wide range of technology for the Windows Operating System, like Internet Explorer browser plugins, and task bar applications. Of course, we can also develop any standard Windows Application you can dream up.
Mac OS X Dashboard Applications
Apple has opened up the door for new and exciting mini-software applications through their Dashboard, which popups over the screen on Macintosh computers when pressing the F12 key. We can develop dashboard applications ranging from simple webpages through advanced 3D applications built with Unity.
We Focus On Design
In business, it doesn't matter how hard you try; being effective at driving profits is what matters. With software, it's not how much code is written, its the approach to the problem that really matters. At GSD Software, we strive to create elegant designs that are not only effective, but are a pleasure to use.
Every hour spent on design saves ten in implementation. Sometimes looking at a problem in a slightly different way will reduce the complexity ten-fold. The way to determine this is through design research, use-cases, and testing. Skipping these crucial steps in an attempt to save time always leads to longer development schedules than projects that include adequate time for design.
Web Server Development
At GSD Software, we treat our server side software different than most web developers. We see the server for what it really is, an application that generates HTML and data files that a browser uses to display a webpage. This vision of server technology allows us to remain technology agnostic, allowing a mixture of the best tools for each job, even mixing platforms for a single project if needed.
Focal Points for Server Development
Reliable
Always on, always available. Reliability is vital for server development, and even more so today as internet connectivity that just works is an expectation of software, rather than a special feature. Our hosted applications regularly achieve 99.9% uptime, with seamless updates.
Scalable
What good is a business plan if your software can't handle the growth? GSD Software's dedication to using state-less server calls whenever possible lends to creating software that scales from a small website on a shared- hosting account up to enterprise-level clusters with ease.
Adaptable
Today's business climate requires companies, and hence their software, to be adaptable as situations change. Long gone are the days of 20 year business projections; so when GSD Software develops for you, you aren't just buying software, You are building a foundation for your ever expanding software needs.
Secure
Even a layperson these days understands the importance of focusing on security for the Internet. We never use security-through-obscurity or weak interfaces for our servers. We consider and implement the most appropriate security options for each project.
Not every site requires SSL encrypted traffic or complicated login schemes. Let us explain the appropriate course of action for your situation. We understand and can explain the trade-offs for security from user interface snafus to performance ramifications.
Server Side Technologies
Microsoft .net (Windows Server)
.Net is Microsoft's flagship development technology, and its c# language is GSD Software's preferred development method for web applications. We can develop for ASP.Net forms, web services, SOAP, AjaxPro, and Microsoft Ajax.
Mono (Windows / Mac OS X / Linux)
Mono is the open-source, cross-platform implementation of .Net. We understand the differences between Mono and Microsoft .Net, and have experience developing source code that works with both technologies.
We are one of the few companies to have used Mono:
- in production on high-traffic websites
- on Linux servers when developing with Microsoft Visual Studio on Windows
- to develop on Mac OS X for Windows Server 2003/2008
LAMP (Linux / Mac OS X)
We also develop using the open-source LAMP framework:
- Linux
- Apache
- Mysql
- PHP/Perl
Java (Windows / Mac OS X / Linux)
We support development using Java Servlets on Windows and Unix platforms.
Custom Servers (Any Platform)
We also have experience developing custom software reading from port 80 and 443, including custom SSL implementations.
Database Development
Data storage is an important consideration for any application. We can consult and provide solutions for data storage in a variety of ways including Amazon S3 and new non-relational databases such as CouchDB, but for almost all non-trivial systems, a relational database will be the core for all data storage.
Focus
Tread Lightly
Relational databases are the most expensive component to scale in any system. The least expensive solution is to use the database as lightly as possible, through the use of caching and optimized database access.
Normalize Appropriately
To normalize or denormalize, with databases that is the question. While we understand the academic reasoning behind third-normal and BNF normalization methods to reduce repeated data, these normalization methods are never the best for performance. We always analyze the trade-offs when designing a database.
Shard for Scalability
Popularized by YouTube, sharding is the process of separating data to certain server clusters as indicated by its key. This is one technique we have used many times to reduce the need to scale the size of any one database.
Database Technologies
Microsoft SQL Server (Windows Server)
Originally purchased from Sybase, SQL Server is Microsoft's flagship database environment. We have experience working with versions 7 and up.
Mysql (Windows / Linux / Mac OS X)
Mysql is the most popular open-source database solution in use today. Version 5 contains all of the enterprise level features you would expect, like stored procedures, foreign keys, and clustering. The most popular feature of Mysql is that it's fast... really fast. We have experience with Mysql using versions 3 and up.
iPhone Development
Apple's iPhone AppStore has been a huge commercial success. GSD Software provides a range of services for cashing in on this new market.
Web Applications
The iPhone comes with the Safari browser, the first full-featured web browser on a mobile phone. Creating a web page with the look of a simple iPhone application is the least expensive way to bring your software to the iPhone audience.
Xcode Applications
Xcode 3.0 is the standard way to develop native iPhone applications. This is the best option when its important to have access to all iPhone features while keeping the look-and-feel of the standard iPhone interface.
3D Software and Gaming
Unity 3D is our preferred interface for developing software for the iPhone. Its quick turn-around time allows for budget development of very impressive 3D interfaces.
Why use GSD Software?
We are not an iPhone development company, nor are we a web development company. GSD Software is a full service software company, with broad experience in high-traffic internet products, rich client applications, and solid e-commerce platforms.
This combination allows us to provide the best well-rounded solutions that satisfy not only the technical requirements of your project, but ensures the monetization and growth to satisfy your business needs.
Complete Solution Provider
At GSD Software, our goal is to choose the best design and technologies to provide a software solution for your needs. This is where a consulting company's job ends. We also custom build the software solution to fit your needs. This is where a typical software company's job ends. We're different. We'll run it for you.
At GSD Software, we strive to be a complete solution provider. We can handle all steps of the software development process from conception through hosting. We adapt to your company's needs. Perhaps you are looking for a fancy product for an upcoming trade show that your medium-sized company is attending, or you have a growing garage business that needs a little more help. Let us fill the gap.