Project scaffolding

The first hour of a project sets defaults that survive for years. Nobody revisits the test runner choice or the directory layout once there is code in it — they route around it.

Two opposite failures. Under-scaffolding: no tests, no formatter, no CI, and by the time anyone wants them there are ten thousand lines to retrofit. Over-scaffolding: a folder tree for an architecture the project has not earned, with eleven empty directories and a plugin system before the first user.

The target: everything needed to work well from day one, nothing that anticipates a problem you do not have.

1. Establish what this actually is

Before choosing anything, settle: