Creating A Plan

Overview

Write a comprehensive implementation plan

• Assume the implementor has zero context for the codebase
• Assume the implementor is a skilled developer
• Document everything they would need to know
  • files that will be touched
  • useful reference code, unit tests, and docs
  • how to test changes
• Save all markdown docs next to the provided design
• Construct the plan as bite-sized tasks

Plan structure

• Write the plan to plan.md next to the design
• Fill out the plan template

Task Granularity

Each step is one action (2-5 minutes):

• "Write the failing test" - step
• "Run it to make sure it fails" - step
• "Implement the minimal code to make the test pass" - step
• "Run the tests and make sure they pass" - step
• "Commit" - step

Task Batches

• Group tasks into coherent batches
• Write each batch to its own file, batch-<number>.md, next to the plan and design
• Use the batch template
• Always use exact file paths
• Always use code snippets and not ambiguous instructions like "add validation"
• Always use exact commands with expected output
• Batches should be incremental and build on each other. Batch 1 must be implemented before batch 2

REMEMBER:

• DRY
• YAGNI
• TDD
• frequent commits