Project Planning

Hi there,

I'm currently writing a commercial website engine which I intend on selling to various people. I'm attempting to write is flexible enough to be customisable by the client.

The problem I am facing is that (due to no university training or previous large project experience) I'm not sure how to go about planning. I already attempted to write the software directly, but because I keep revisiting things and changing them, it's getting untidy.

Can anyone tell me the basic approach of planning for a new software package. I know universities teach planning as a large part of the curriculum, but as I say, I never went to university. Pointers in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
JT

I recommend you to use iterative approach. I.e. release version (perhaps, with very little useful features), plan a few features and implement them in the next version, etc.

Also you may try to trial Rational RUP. There you may study how to manage projects. But it won't be enough for good manager also :-).

SDLC (System Development Life Cycle), OO (Object_Oriented) and RAD (Rapid Application Development) are common methodologies for developing large Web-based applications.

I study planning at an abstract level so I am pleased to find this forum. This is my first time here so I'll just say something funny...

JohnnyThunder posts: "I never went to university" and "tell me the basic approach of planning".

Hmm. It seems clear that the first step in the plan is go to university.

It all depends on how far ahead you have to look, what your options are, how well you can tolerate deviations from the plan, i.e., problems, how many people have to agree, etc etc etc

Many people work best by trying a small example and then scaling up. There are cases where you have to commit to something big right from the beginning, but even then you are better off knowing something about feasibility, impact, etc.

There is also a Project Methodolgy called PRINCE2, this looks at all the areas of Project Management worth searching for this!!!