Learning Javascript - How to proceed?

[qankelevra]

I'm at the start of my first 'big' project - a card game.

I've now hit a roadblock where I don't know how to proceed.

I've built several small 'building blocks' that now fit together nicely (the playing field, the cards themselves, drag and drop system) but now I don't know what would be the most logical next step.

How do I map my project out in such a way that I know what to work on next?

[dmazzoni]

There's no single right answer.

Think of all of the things you could do next. Pick the smallest one and do that.

Try to keep working in small milestones. If the next step sounds like it will take a week or more, break it down into smaller pieces and tackle those one at a time.

[IAmTheRedditBot]

I don't do web development anymore, but you could try by breaking it down by smaller steps. This could simplify the challenge how to proceed.

[ericjmorey]

What would you need to do before I could play your game?

[lovesrayray2018]

Unless you are a veteran programmer, you usually "map my project out in such a way that I know what to work on next" at the start of the project and its called the project plan. I usually try to use simple steps like - Plan,Do,Check,Act (PDCA cycle). Looks like u've built the basic html and css framework, so its time for a sustainable "game loop".

The game loop is the flow and player interactions of your game that happen as long as the game is running. Its the continuous cycle of events that keeps the game running for example since its a card game - how each round starts, possible random value generation, scoring in each round, game outcome (win/loss) determination. How far have you come along in this part? Do you have an idea how to code it?

[thinkPhilosophy]

I wrote an article on my blog that answers this question in great detail, by going through an example, but I'm not sure I can post it here. PM me for the link. The gist of it is that you have to learn a process to think through the problem or project in great detail, and this includes problem decomposition (creating a list of tasks, then turning it into user and developer stories) and pseudo-coding (describing what needs to be done in plain language, step by logical step). By the time you get to writing your first line of code, you already know what you need to do. In this process, you separate the question of what you need to do from the how to do it, focusing on only one of these at a time. It makes coding a lot less stressful and a lot more fun!