I did it for the same reasons-- simpler is better, focus on finishing tasks and not organizing them. The more I can stay inside Vim and not out of it, the better!
I didn't add any history support because all of the tasks are stored in .tasks.json, if you want history, just check it into git and bam, history.
I am not 100% sure how Taskwarrior does it, but when I built my own dead simple task manager (for people that want to finish tasks and not organize them), I gave the tasks random unique IDs.
I've tried Taskwarrior in the past. The main issue I had is the complexity. It's not simple enough, there's a whole lot of options and things it can do which send me down a path of messing with tasks and organizing them when all I should be doing is completing them.
All I ever need is a simple text file with a list of things to do. I've ended up building a simple version that does what I need on a per-project basis and I check the file into version control sometimes (depending on the project). Sometimes I have git ignore the tasks file and it's more of a personal todo list for the project.
I found all of them to be too complex. I built my own editor plugin and command line tool that is super simple. The basic idea is to spend less time organizing tasks and more time completing tasks.
You are right, it is a fantastic way to learn the fundamentals of emulation. It's not too large to be overwhelming and not so small that it's trivial. It's the perfect size for your first emulation project.
There are two techniques/strategies I have used to become more productive. Both strategies revolve around the idea of not becoming distracted.
1. Stop "planning" everything and start "doing" things. I believe planning is a great way to procrastinate because you convince yourself you are being productive when you are not. Instead, I try to minimize my planning and keep things moving.
I stopped using planning tools such as Trello or other Kanban systems because they are so heavy and in the browser it makes it easy to get distracted and surf the web but also, those tools suck you in and you soon start 'planning' a lot of details instead of actually doing work.
I replaced my task manager with a simple command line tool I made myself (https://goo.gl/YF6Wsk). I am not sure if it would help anyone else but I use it every day. The premise of the tool is simple, minimize the time I spend outside of my editor. If I have to log tasks I do it and jump right back in my editor.
2. The Pomodoro Technique has helped me "get in the zone" because the technique makes you focus right off the bat.
Thanks! You are absolutely right. The book is still taking shape and there is a lot that is unclear.
I certainly have a lot of decisions I need to make on the structure of the book and how to make the purpose of the book more clear.
In my mind the book is code-heavy and first goes through the design and implementation of your own virtual machine.
The book then builds on top of the custom virtual machine with more techniques/architecture (changing the main loop from a classic switch statement to a jump table, discussing dynamic (just in time) compilation, static recompilation approaches etc).
The ultimate goal is to take all of the design and approaches and build an emulator to spec that runs games you can find around the net. In particular, the Chip-8 system because the size of the project would be good for the book.
I think it would be great to make the book more general than emulation/emulator development but at the same time I want to make it clear if you are a person interested in making emulators (like I was) then this is a book that will help you do that.
https://github.com/prophittcorey/t.rb
https://github.com/prophittcorey/vim-t
I did it for the same reasons-- simpler is better, focus on finishing tasks and not organizing them. The more I can stay inside Vim and not out of it, the better!
I didn't add any history support because all of the tasks are stored in .tasks.json, if you want history, just check it into git and bam, history.