Flow : Rust Project Manager

Flow is a command-line tool that handles:

• Tracking developer projects
• Tracking time spent on each project
• Automatically opening the project in the user’s preferred editor for that project
• Cloning the project if it’s not present on the local disk

For example, Flow opens VSCode when I work on my portfolio but opens CLion when I work on Flow.

You can find the project’s GitHub here.

Context

I was looking to apply my Rust knowledge and progress by working on a new project. I had heard about clap.rs and wanted to try developing a CLI. Additionally, I was able to work on the project as part of a 20-hour project for my third-year option.

Process

I started by clearly defining what I wanted to achieve. Then, I tried to evaluate the complexity of each point and the time the project would take me. Then I started developing.

I divided my work into 2 sprints so that Flow would be usable by the end of the first one. The ability to use Flow between the 2 sprints allowed me to adapt the tasks of the second sprint to achieve more relevant features. And, of course, it also allowed me to fix bugs that I hadn’t seen.

Conclusion

In the end, this is probably the project I use the most. I find it quite practical and I think it has potential to become a useful tool for other developers.

Additionally, I was able to apply my knowledge of Rust. I feel like I’ve progressed and understand the language a bit more.

However, there are still things to do. For example, simply improving the project’s README, so that others can use it without asking questions. Why not automatically install dependencies after cloning a project next? I think I’ll continue to periodically improve this project. I’ll update this page if the project evolves!