Spikes (in the agile nomenclature) are great fun. You just try to figure out what the shortest point from where you are to minimal functionality is, then get there.
Regarding a HN clone:
Sorting? Just do it by date.
Logins? Just a basic login, perhaps with tons of security vulnerabilities.
Flagging? Later
Comments? Not yet.
Once you have that, which is usually just a weekend job, then you can start to see what's going to be necessary and what isn't and start to see some of the edge cases and features you didn't even know you would need.
Comments
Spikes (in the agile nomenclature) are great fun. You just try to figure out what the shortest point from where you are to minimal functionality is, then get there.
Regarding a HN clone:
Sorting? Just do it by date. Logins? Just a basic login, perhaps with tons of security vulnerabilities. Flagging? Later Comments? Not yet.
Once you have that, which is usually just a weekend job, then you can start to see what's going to be necessary and what isn't and start to see some of the edge cases and features you didn't even know you would need.