This summer I'd like to develop a number of applications, all of them relatively small, yet risky -they're complex, I'm inexperienced-. I'm gonna work on my own because my classmates or other IT people I know really don't have a genuine interest in programming (I swear!).Besides from making good code, I'd like to analyze, design and plan everything correctly. Probably applying standard methodologies would be excesive for a single-person project wouldn't it be?So, what lifecycle and diagrams should I use? In college I've been taught only a very superficial approach to software engineering.
What design and planning techniques are the most suitable for individual projects?
design;requirements;methodology;project planning
I would recommend to focus on one little project at a time. If they are complex, you probably want to spend some time thinking first, so you can penetrate the problem domain at least to the degree where you have an idea of how to solve the central problem. Once you have that understanding, and often little sketches are a good way of getting there, then start by implementing the code from the start with unit tests, where each test expresses either a desired result or the ability of the code to handle defective or incomplete input.For a one man team, most of the standard methodologies are over the top, but the principle can still be applied, albeit at a much smaller scale. I would not recommend spending too much time on beautiful diagrams, hand-drawn sketches will do fine. And since this sounds like you are trying to learn new things about programming, don't worry about lifecycle.