Alright I'm thinking of building a programming portfolio. I'm thinking of developing for Android due to my wanting to get familiar with its sdk and eventually publish my own game on it. Right now I graduate in may and have little in the way of projects. So I'm thinking what looks better for companies, many little programs such as a calculator and a number of other simple utilities or would a one nice program be better? Any tips?

Note I'm just taking in general as it stand I want any type of job... then look into gaming industry after developing my first game properly any. Sound like a good plan?

Choose projects that are small enough to finish in a polished way.

To paraphrase one of the thoughts in "A book of lenses" (A book about game design) -- "Your first 10 games will be bad, so get them out of the way fast!"

If you have sufficient experience in creating projects, you may attempt a larger one -- but for me, a real portfolio piece would need to be polished, no matter the scope.

Each project, small or large, tells tales about the author -- his style, attention to detail, how he finishes off, what he showcases. In the case of tech demos, you can just show off some of the techniques you learned that aren't necesarilly basic ones.

You could also collaborate on one of the many projects here on gamedev, help them finish and post them as work that you worked on. That would showcase not only raw programming skills, but also the ability to work with a group, bring something bigger in scope to conclusion.

I would suggest starting a few small projects, given you don't have much time (or do you?), and focus on pulling them through with some other dedicated people, such as a RL friendly artist or sound guy.

Thanks for the suggestions. No I don't have much time with me having a fiancee and still working on my degree and trying to find a job to pay the bills. I was hoping tho get a head start as a indie development and bring in some extra cash via some basic apps. So many little polished project look better then one awesome unpolished project then eh? I figured as much, any recommendations on projects that look good I was thinking a programmers calculator.to start with

That's a start. Try to think of a need that needs to be filled. Try to imagine the kind of person who would want it. What are his fears and his concerns, and what simple solution can you make to solve them?