You’re coding this amazing new project and are busy implementing all the cool features.

But after a few days, you slowly start to lose track of the progress and which features you should add first.

This means that you get confused, frustrated, and angry because it seems that you’ll never be able to finish the project.

That’s why if you read this blog post till the end, you’re going to discover the exact framework called MoSCoW, that professional developers use to prioritize the requirements of their projects in a way so that they never lose track of it ever again.

First, let me tell you a quick story about how I learned this framework and what it has done for me.

“Oh my god, this is the best thing ever….” I said while almost falling off my chair from excitement.

As my teacher just explained a framework that would help me become a way better software developer.

You see, ever since I started my coding journey at the age of 14.

I worked on hundreds of projects that helped me gain so much knowledge and understand deeper concepts of software development.

But unfortunately, almost all of them never saw the end of the day.

The reason for this was that I never knew how to prioritize the features that would go into my project in a way so that I knew exactly what to do next.

Instead, I always jumped straight in (I still sometimes tend to make this mistake to this day) with pure excitement and write the code right away.

This has caused me to abandon 90% of all my projects because, after a few days, I was completely lost and had zero clue about what I had to do.

Then once my teacher showed us the framework that I’ll be sharing with you today.

I knew immediately that it’ll solve the problem that I constantly was facing.

The framework is called MoSCoW, and professional software development teams use it to prioritize the requirements (features) of their coding project.

The framework exists out of 4 steps:

1. What are the Must-Haves?
2. What are the Should Haves?
3. What are the Could Haves?
4. What are the Won’t-Haves? (This time)

Now, let’s dive into the tactics.

What are the must haves?

First of all, you need to write down which requirements your project must have for it’s first released version.

For example: login, register, profile page, and the database tables.

At the end, it all depends on your project.

Step #1: What are the must haves?

First of all, you need to write down which requirements your project must have for its first released version.

For example, login, register, profile page, and database tables.

In the end, it all depends on your project.

Step #2: What are the should haves?

The second section is where you will list all the should haves. 

These are usually the requirements that are still important for the initial release of the project, but it won’t matter so much if they are left out and implemented later.

Step #3: What are the could haves?

Third is the should haves. I usually list the features here that would be nice to have for the initial release, but would only be added if there’s still enough time. Otherwise, I’ll add them during a later version release.

Now last but not least, the won’t haves (This time)

The reason why I wrote “This time” is because these features will eventually be added. Just not during the upcoming version release.

TIP: As you release different versions of your project, should-haves from the previous release could turn into the must-haves and could-haves can become the should-haves.

So that’s it for this blog post. I genuinely hope that you learned from it and that it will simplify future project creations for you.

Oh and remember, your dream career is just one step away!

Btw, I recently opened a FREE giveaway where 5 lucky winners will receive two weeks of video materials for FREE, from my JavaScript Mastery Blueprint.

It’s a must-have for anyone who wants to become a professional JavaScript developer.

You can join here: https://michielarkema.com/jsmb-giveaway

The post How To Prioritize The Requirements Of Your Coding Project The Right Way! appeared first on Michiel Arkema's Blog.

Well if you read this blog post till the end, you’re going to discover exactly that!

Before we can compare the two with each other, we first need to understand the meaning of each of them.

What is a framework?

A framework often provides ready-made components and interfaces along with their implementations. Frameworks often can work independently and have a particular start-up entry method that gets executed when the framework is being initialized.

Here are a few examples of popular frameworks in the programming space:

• Angular
• .NET Framework
• PHP Laravel
• Python Django

But what is a library then?

Just like a framework, a library usually contains ready-made classes and interfaces but they aren’t being initialized by default. It requires the developer to add the library to his/her project and call the provided classes individually.

Here are a few examples of popular libraries in the programming space:

• React.JS
• JQuery
• Newtonsoft.JSON
• Bootstrap CSS

What is the key difference?

The key difference between the two is that with frameworks, the developer usually installs the framework first, and then builds his/her application on top of that.

But with libraries, the developer already has an existing application where he/she will install the libraries using a package manager.

Frameworks are in full control of your application while libraries are not, they just add extra functionality that the developer can access.

So that’s it for today’s blog post, I hope you found it useful and that you learned from it.

If you did learn from it, let me know your opinion in the comments and perhaps even share your insights about the topic.

Remember, Your dream career is just one step away!

Your friend: Michiel Arkema

Oh, and btw, we also have a free coding secrets newsletter where I will be sharing behind-the-scenes secrets about coding. You can join it here: https://michielarkema.com

The post Frameworks VS Libraries, What Is The Difference? appeared first on Michiel Arkema's Blog.

Re: The #1 secret about ‘If’ statements in coding that everyone should know… NOW!

Hey There Fellow Coders,

So as a software developer, you most likely are quite familiar with the all-famous ‘If’ statement.

But are you exactly aware of how it works in the background? Well, no matter the answer that you just gave, let’s keep reading.

So just to make everything as obvious as possible, let’s take a look at what a simple if statement looks like. And for the following examples, let’s use the Python programming language.

Now let’s digest what is happening in the code above.

1. We created a simple Boolean variable
2. We check if the value is True, and if so, it will print out a very happy message

But would would happen if the value would be False instead?

Well it’s simple, nothing would happen. Why? Well because our if statement is only executed when the value is True.

Now, let’s do something fun, let’s negate the if statement but putting the ‘not’ keyword in front of it. (Don’t make fun of my drawing skills oke?)

Now, Let’s see what would happen if we were to execute the code.

The Result will look like this:

So now you are probably thinking, why do we get a result when our value is set to False?

Well the answer is simple, by using the ‘not’ keyword in front of condition. We checked if the value is False, and because it is indeed False, the check returns True.

Get it? If not, let’s take a look if we would execute the same condition and print out its value.

As you can see up here, the condition returned true. Why? well its simple, we checked if the variable was not True, and we did so by putting the ‘not’ keyword in front of it.

So What Is The Big Magic Secret Then?

Well, the secret is simple but still many don’t know it. An ‘If’ Statement only executes if the condition is True. If it’s False, the statement will be skipped.

So hopefully you discovered something new from this post and if you did, I recently started a public FaceBook group where I will be sharing 8 years of experience in programming with you. Sounds cool? Then join NOW!
Click on this link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/confidentcoderscommunity

Your Friend And Coaching Buddy: Michiel (Coding Dude) Arkema

The post Discover This #1 Secret About The ‘If’ Statement In Coding… And Improve YOUR Coding Skills Immediately! appeared first on Michiel Arkema's Blog.