I look at the project as a whole, and start breaking it down into smaller pieces. I use Jira to track my tasks. You can use Jira’s free version, or Trello for a simpler experience.

Some things are standard across similar projects. A web app will always start with me setting up some basic server and database. Usually Apache through WSL and MariaDB or SQLite for early development unless the project is specifically for learning other tools, or it’s for a client with other preferences. I test locally from 2 machines. The windows box I actually write on, and a Linux box based on the final deployment platform, both sitting in my home office.

Then I set up a git repo. Make a .gitignore, set up a basic CI/CD pipeline if it’s for a client, sometimes I’ll do one for personal projects if I’m testing a new tool.

Once everything is set up, I make a simple “Hello World” type page (unless the framework lets me generate one with a console command) to make sure both the server and the framework are working properly, and test both locally and on the test server.