Seeking advice from programmers for non-programmers
anamax: > How can I best approach a software engineer with an idea?Back up a step.  Why are you approaching said engineer with that idea?  Yes, I know that you want said engineer to build it, but why should anyone build that idea and not some other idea?I'm sure that you've got good supporting arguments, but if you don't provide them, you're indistinguishable from the vast majority, who have nothing.It's okay if there are holes in your arguments IF you admit them and talk about them.  If we find significant holes that you don't tell us about, our experience tells us that there are additional problems and that you're incompetent and/or deceptive.  That's not likely to lead where you'd like to go.In short, tell us everything.  We'll ignore what we don't need to know.