When I start coding a new application/library, I normally just start Visual Studio, create a project, and then start typing. If I’m just hacking something together to solve a particular problem, it usually doesn’t get more complicated than that. But if the project needs to survive longer than a few days and/or through multiple revisions, there are some things I like to have to make development easier. These include:

• Source control.
• Version numbers.
• Build script.
• Setup application.
• Tests.

While each of these requires work, they really do make development easier and less error-prone. I’m planning to write some blogs in the future with more information about each of these. So stay tuned!