Minimart project: Lessons learnt

After doing the minimart project, I've compiled lessons learnt:

-Be precise about the scope of the project.
Make sure the customer understand what will the result of the project. This serve as the checklist to determine that you have completed the project. If you miss this, customers can suggest more features and your project grows. You will feel that the project has no end.

-Use prototype
What you have done especially user interfaces may be different from what customers expected. Making prototypes for customers to review can reveal the different and can save you lots of time. You can further understand customers' need or capture details customers missed at analysis phase. It can also satisfy customers to a larger extend.

-Backing up
Before making changes, make sure you have backed up everything including database.

-Fixing bugs
When customers find bugs in your program, they will call you. Instead of fixing it at customers' place, note down bugs' information, go back to the company and analyze the dependency of what you change. This is to ensure that what you change will not break other codes. If you have used Unit Test in your program, it'll tell you whether your change will break other codes.