[0xbadcafebee]

Ways you can avoid building a compiler:

1. Lower the scope of the solution. If your solution is designed to address 100% of the users' problems, it's probably too grand of a solution. Start with 80% of the problems. Identify all the problems, rank them by priority and difficulty, and leave the most difficult and least priority problems out.

2. Lower your expectations. Imagine your great idea. Now imagine how you will implement it. Now imagine it is 100x more difficult than you imagine. Woof, that's hard! Strip down the implementation to the essentials needed to solve the immediate problems.

3. Give the user the minimum possible functionality to address their needs.

4. Go find an existing solution that provides these requirements.

If you did it right, you will probably find a solution that you really don't like but already exists and solves the problems you need to solve right now.

[mcguire]

And in six months, the users will be hacking around the parts you left missing, probably by emailing Excel spreadsheets around.

If you did it right, you will be off to your next place of employment before the wheels completely come off.