Ask HN: How do you begin the process of developing a web application?

Personally this is what I do:

1) Idea

2) Write a small paragraph explaining the idea

3) Derive features

4) Make todo list

5) Make mockups using mockingbird (awesome tool)

6) Write some code

7) Get bored and go back to 1) (not recommended)

Between 5 and 6 It should be better to work on the design rather than code. Code should be last imo. Also I hope someone could erase step7 and actually launch the product :)

Personally, I dive right into the DB Schema. I use a modeling tool and just start with the basic relationships. For example, a User table and then as I think of features I think about how I will need to store them, how each entity relates to the other, etc. I'm a nut for normalization. At some point the schema is good enough to start coding some basic pages to login and do things. Of course, the schema never stays the same but evolves with the app.

I think the biggest reason I enjoy doing this is because I'm driven by visible progress. I do just enough DB work to then do a little bit of coding so I can do something in the app. Basically giving my self little feature goals here and there.

I tend to think in terms of architecture, so how the data will fit together and what the major compontents will be. The functional requirements are usually something that crystalize in my head on the back-burner over a period of weeks until I pull the trigger and jump in. I often write some throw-away code that captures some of the non-trivial couplings between pieces as a proof of concept and then start filling in the gaps upwards.

Usually on the interface side there's a separate process that meets in the middle. I'll often either do some dummy HTML pages or (yeah, laugh) Keynote slides that give me an idea for the interactional mechanics.

That said, and it probably shows, my strong suit is in developing libraries, not applications, and I tend to paint with that brush even when doing apps.

1. idea

2. list features in order of importance

3. select top 50% of 2.

4. paper mockup with various iterations

5. code

6. revise with external feedback (usability study?)

7. go to 3/4/5.

1. Sketch & remove features (usually fit in a page or 2, 3) until I have something minimal. While sketching, I also figure out the main features and then the main db tables and methods/functions. Sometimes the sketch paper has some competitors there, ideas around how to make money, user experience notes etc... Often a little supersimple objectmodel or db scheme too. Always fits on 1 page.

1.5 Put that sketch on my "ideas" wall. Most ideas never make it. But for the ones that do:

2. Set up local domain mynewsite.peter, and optionally put codeigniter on it.

3. Put 1 or 2 html pages up.

4. Create a database table or two, code some functions that call it, and get something working.

Now I have something working, I iterate on it finetuning it for a while. And if I still like it, I might improve it a little and put it online for friends to play with. I've done projects that I launched but only ever used myself.