How do you prepare your projects?

[eluser]gon[/eluser]
There are some levels in which you can work to standarize your development process:

* You could prepare a skeleton of an application. I use the same CI installation for all projects, so I start by creating the files needed (index.php, .htaccess and application folder). I also copy some commonly used libraries like Layout,Breadcrumbs, etc. If you're new, you'll probably develop them the first time, and then reuse them.

* You should store your project in a SVN repository, and use it to keep versions and branches.

* For designing your app, I prepare a simple hand-written document that describes the data flow, involved classes and every idea I have about it, but at a simple level. When I encounter problems, I go back to the document and think about the simplest solution I can find.

* Use TDD to develop your app. You can use PHPTest or Simpletest, last one I prefer. Apart from the direct benefits, it makes your code cleaner beacuse you must

* For deploying, I use PHING, so I don't have to know what files I've modified and upload them to the server. Just have a copy of the SVN repository on the server. Perform a SVN update, then call phing task for deploying modified files. Clean and safe.