Hi Douglas,
It's not uncommon for software development projects to drag on longer than expected. Particularly if there have been substantial changes or revisions to the original specifications. When that happens, it can become demoralising for developers to continue making changes without having some closure from making a release. Could that be what is happening here? Were you happy with the quality of the work up until this point?
I understand your frustration having invested so much into a project and then seeing it left up in the air with no solid indication on completion. I don't know anything about the details of your project, so it is hard to gauge what the problem is and what can be done about it. I'm also unsure of what your relationship is to your developer? or how much experience he has.
Your developer may feel unable to communicate to you the issues he is struggling with. He may feel pressured to commit to unachievable deadlines because the communication is not good enough to negotiate more realistic ones; or perhaps the planning has not been good enough to recognise the full scope of the project and there have been some surprises. The lack of communication may be due to fear of disappointing you.
Without more details about the project it's hard to make specific suggestions; but I would be extremely cautious about starting over again. If you have been happy with what has been achieved so far, it would be much better to find out what issues are holding you back and deal with them. That will be far more productive than starting at square one.
Cheers,
Lach
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