Completing and shipping personal projects as a solo developer can be tasking when you have other responsibilities. Over the years I have gathered a simple framework to ship good software quickly. The steps can be divided into:
- Scope and objective.
- Strict deadline.
- Testing.
- Deployment and maintenance.
You may ask, what about other methods agile, waterfall etc. I have found those techniques to be too cumbersome for the solo developer. A solo developer is a team of one with limited time and resources, a pragmatic approach is needed if you want results.
Let’s breakdown each step and provide why they are necessary for your project success and how to implement them.
- Scope and objective
I try to ensure every software project solves at least a problem for its users even if the user is just you. A lot of big projects have started out by programmers scratching their own itch. E.g Linux and Dropbox.
Software developed with a user in mind has various considerations like usability, security etc. that you rarely find in a toy project.
- Strict deadline
Be very strict and realistic about when you want your software to make it into the world. A realistic deadline will ensure you do not fall into a lot of traps that will waste the little time and resources you have at your disposal as a solo developer. Some of these mistakes are:
- Adding unnecessary features.
- Not getting user feedback quickly.
- Slow decision making.
- Testing
The rule of thumb here is to see untested code as incomplete code. Testing is at the core of software, especially for solo projects where you have little to no marketing resources. The best marketing you have is good working software. Testing ensures you have a usable software that meets set out objectives and makes your users happy.
- Deployment and maintenance
Now you have finally shipped a good working software project following the guidelines above. Well, you can now expect feedback for users (including you) as the software is used for various purposes over its lifetime. Some of the feedback may be harsh or humbling, brace yourself, listen and use this as a way to better your software project while it is in use. If possible, seek out users’ opinions and pain points.
Well, those are the 4 simple steps I currently use for my solo projects. I am practical and pragmatic in my software development approach. I explore various technologies and programming languages but at the same time I do not follow trends. As a solo developer you do not have time to jump on trends. Your best tools are the ones currently at your disposal.
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