So, after dipping my toes in the Android water over the summer, I began working on my own app.
I took me roughly one month to do it, from start to finish. Admittedly, I slowed down once college started, but that’s to be expected since I did have to learn Python, and Django, as well as how to parse websites!
So, what does my first app do exactly? Well, its called Lotto Helper IE. It is an app to show the user what the most common lotto numbers are in the Irish lottery since its inception in 1988. I basically parsed a website with all the numbers, put them into an XML file, and from there I counted each number and sorted them in order. The problem with this method is that, in 1992 the Irish Lottery Commission added some new numbers, extending them from 35 to 38. The Bonus ball was also added. A few years later, the numbers were then extended to 42. Now, based on frequency alone, this would lead to inaccuracies, since the draw began in 1988 and some numbers were only added 4-6 years later.
To counter-act this, I’ve made a few tweaks. Firstly, I counted how many draws were missed by each new number. Then I subtracted that from the total amount. I could then work out an accurate percentage and sort the numbers by this.
On top of this, I have also added in support for the Euromillions. Similarly, I parse the numbers, store in XML, and then do some calculations. The result gives me an ordered list of the monst common numbers, and how many times they’ve come out.
On the Irish Lotto website, there is a number checker. I’ve checked my predicted numbers and they seem to be doing well. Over the last month, anyone who had played these numbers would have netted themselves over €30! Not bad for a free app!
Apparently, there is big business in betting shops where people can bet on number pairs to come out in each lotto draw. I’m hoping to extend the app to include a feature like this. In the meantime, I’ve a “stats” screen, which displays the raw data for each number in both the Irish Lotto, and the euromillions. I’ve a few hundred downloads so far, which is cool, ranging from Ireland, the UK, and America to Eastern Europe, China and even Brazil!
My first personally publish app can be download, for free, from the Android Market here:
Lotto Helper IE
-Eoin
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