I am trying to start a small (Read: Tiny) web development company from home, which will handle only a few light contracts. I have been spending some time searching Google for common documents used by developers and their clients to help layout all the goals and features the site might have. Unfortunately since I have not obtained any formal education, I am experiencing a slight fish-out-of-water syndrome, and am not even sure of the names of the documents I am seeking. I would be eternally grateful if some experienced developers would point me in the right direction; any documents related to planning the website, contracts, really anything would be considered useful.
What you are looking for are project development and project management books that describe how projects are organized, documented, etc... First, google "design patterns gang of four" Second, visit http://trac.seagullproject.org/wiki/Standards/SoftwareBestPractices Third, look at: http://trac.seagullproject.org/wiki/Standards Fourth, visit: http://www.oreilly.com/pub/topic/projectmanagement and http://www.oreilly.com/pub/topic/designpatterns Also, I might suggest: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/webdbapps2/ This will give you most of what you're looking for. Think XAMPP for a localhost install to run tests, and MySQL for a database backend (part of XAMPP): http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html It will take time. Good luck! -- Jared Farrish Intermediate Web Developer Denton, Tx Abraham Maslow: "If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail." $$
