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JC Smiley
JC Smiley

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Todo project Planning Guide

The Todo project allows you to practice and show skills in basic HTML semantics, CRUD logic, and responsive design. I imagine it as the natural first step in front-end development similar to "Hello World" is the natural first step in logic programming.

Directions šŸ—ŗ

You can use any framework or basic HTML, CSS, & JavaScript. You can make yourself more job ready by creating a habit of good git committing practice, coding practices, and hosting your project so it can be demoed by others.

The purpose of this guide is to point you in a direction so you can spend more time coding then planning. The primary question, "If given a small project, can you build it within a small time frame"?

Stay tuned for a follow-up post that will include GIFs of a working solution, code examples, a link to a demo, GitHub repository as a guide, and more!

Tips šŸ’”

  • Make it work, then make it right. Focus on building a working solution as fast as possible. As time allows you, go back and make it cleaner, faster, and prettier.
  • Talent can only get you so far. Focus on best practices and grind hard (aka "What you put in is what you will get out").
  • Consistency is King. What you do daily, those small things, builds into a tidal wave of success.

User Stories/Requirements šŸ“ƒ

For your app to be consider completed, a user must be able to do the following:

  1. The user can add an activity to a the UI.
  2. The user can delete an activity from the UI.
  3. The user can update an activity as completed, be visually seen as completed, but not remove visually from the UI.
  4. The user can edit the activity in the UI.

Suggested Wireframes for Guidance šŸ”

This is a suggestion. Yours can look however you like as long as it has the basic functionality described in the user stories. A hot tip is to code with the end goal in mind. Have a wireframe of what you are building drawn before you start coding.

Wireframe of a suggested Mobile responsive design of the UI
Mobile view of the Todo app's wireframe

Wireframe of a suggested Tablet responsive design of the UI
Tablet view of the Todo app's wirefreame

Wireframe of a suggested Desktop responsive design of the UI
Desktop view of the Todo app's wirefreame

Suggested Todo List šŸ

This is a suggestion. I highly recommend using something to organize your thoughts into small doable tasks. My approach to coding is to build out the visual framework (HTML) and styling/responsive design (CSS) before adding functionality.

Todo list of activities to build the propose software

Resources

Todo Tutorials/Inspirations šŸ“š

Icons, images, etc. šŸ“·

  • Use Font Awesome or native emojis ( I use the native emojis that came with Windows 10 (Windows Logo + ";"))
  • UXWings is my primary place for SVGs.
  • I love ClipartMax for free images.

Front-end tools šŸ› 

  • Free app called ResponsivelyApp that allow you to visually see app in multiple device sizes at the same time.
  • I don't know if I could survive without Git-kracken

Summary

This is the first in a series of 8 front-end focus projects for the Front-end Developer Finishing Academy. Each project will have 3 blog posts to help aspiring developers:

  1. Planning blog
  2. Developing blog
  3. Updating your project to the next step beyond the basic skills blog. Includes: Accessibility, Animation, UI/UX Concepts, Good Git Commits, API Usage.

Iā€™m not trying to teach you how to code but to assist you in building basic projects quickly to build a firm foundation of coding skills. Similar to a job, can you build software with a set of user stories and wireframes?

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