I use a TODO file.
Ask HN: Solo devs, how do you plan your development?
171–180 of 190 posts
Re: Ask HN: Solo devs, how do you plan your development?
#172I'm insane, so I just create a parent task in taskwarrior: "build real estate app for client x" Then anything that falls directly under that is a blocking task: - "build backend to serve api" - "build frontend" (this might be blocked by the one above, or not, depending on what it really does) - repeat ad naueseum until those big tasks are broken down enough for me to visualize Using a project might be nice to get a p…
This is the same process I use on a whiteboard to plan out complex projects at work with my team. It's a nice way to see what tasks can be worked on simultaneously in non-solo work too. As a side project I'm currently working on a tool to do this planning visually.
My sole gripe with TW is the lack of a pretty GUI and a power mobile app. Both problems I can solve on my own, mind you, but still...
Plus I know it'll be a huge problem if I ever have to work with anyone else.
Re: Ask HN: Solo devs, how do you plan your development?
#173With trello, within a single card you can click "add checklist" on the right-hand side. Then add all your tasks, and check them off one by one - it shows you a progress bar on the main board.
I have a single TODO list of cards and i use the checklist within a TODO if its a large task that needs to be broken down.
I also arrange all of my links to libraries i've found online by dragging them directly onto trello or use the bookmarklet. I have about 30 boards on different topics, some with ideas, some with links all subdivided horizontally by topic.
Re: Ask HN: Solo devs, how do you plan your development?
#174As many other have suggested, I found ClubHouse [1] to be the best balance for solo dev. I have tested and worked with many. Asana, JIRA, Trello were all tested alone and with small or medium sized teams. None were as simple to use and clean as clubhouse. It was always hard to keep the big picture while going into details with theses software. But with Clubhouse am using Iteration to define the big picture and the pl…
I will second Clubhouse as a great tool. It’s far better thought out than Jira and attuned to software life cycles unlike Trello.
Re: Ask HN: Solo devs, how do you plan your development?
#175I have a file called todo.txt, with the current tasks at the top, and everything else below that. It is in version control. As I finish stuff, I delete it out of the file. I add new stuff towards the top if I want to do it soon, towards the bottom if I want to save it for later. For things which are just ideas, I have a second file called brainstorm.txt.
I use a todo.diff - so the text editor color codes my lines started with `+` and `-`
Pretty neat trick.
Re: Ask HN: Solo devs, how do you plan your development?
#176Ahahaha Maybe they did not read to that part. I think no one reads past your job experience so you may write just about everything down below and no one will bat an eye. I also recommend that use some tools to check your resume, there is whole bunch of them, https://resumecvwriter.com/free-resume-review for example
Re: Ask HN: Solo devs, how do you plan your development?
#177Fancy tools are for teams, because everyone editing todo.txt eventually gets messy. It is not like you can't use the fancy tools, but if you expect them to somehow improve your work flow, prepare to be disappointed. The thing about working solo is that you can get away with a lot less communication and writing stuff down. Depending on your memory you probably still should put a few core ideas on paper/file. As long a…
I've been experimenting with a TODO for every branch and then merging the TODO into the main TODO when you merge to master. For example, you have a main TODO that has the general things you want to do. When you open up a new branch, you create a new TODO file named after the branch in the TODO directory. You move the TODO items that you are going to do into the new file (and add extra details). You work on that TODO and when you are finished with the branch, you move any not-DONE items into the main TODO file. This will cause occasional merge conflicts, but since you should probably inspect the priority of close items, it's not really a problem.
I've mostly done it just for myself, but have occasionally tried it with 1 or 2 other people. It seems to work reasonably well. The only real downside that I've found is that if you want to take the TODO items out of the master branch when you are working on them, it requires another commit to master, which is unfortunate. However, in doing that, your master branch has a TODO file for every branch that it in active development, so it's not really that bad...
I've not really lured anybody away from Trello, though. People like their specialised GUI ;-) Org-mode/MD just doesn't do it for a lot of people.
Re: Ask HN: Solo devs, how do you plan your development?
#178Earlier quoted context omitted.
I use a todo.diff - so the text editor color codes my lines started with `+` and `-`
Similarly, I use todo.md, and have VIM highlight "[ ]", "[x]", "[>]", "[v]", and "[-]" for bullet-journal-like TODO, DONE, Deferred, Dropped, and FAILED, respectively.
wow. Thanks for the tip
Re: Ask HN: Solo devs, how do you plan your development?
#179I use Trello, then it gets messy, switch to Keep to start over, that gets confusing or messy, I have a txt file with my todos, that gets messy, I try a project management tool like Basecamp, doesn't do the trick, start over fresh on Trello, that gets messy.... I think you see where I'm going with this.
I’ve been using Notion to integrate the kanban board, free form notes & references, client proposal documents, etc. all into one place.
I use Restyaboard to integrate the kanban board, probably the best looking and working kanban out there.
Re: Ask HN: Solo devs, how do you plan your development?
#180I use Trello for both personal and work-related tasks. I have lists like , [DOING] [DONE]. I also extensively use label feature and label tasks like High, Boring, Creative, etc, etc. I found Trello quite useful.