TodoOrDie.ts

Write TODOs in code that ensure you actually do them

Credits

This utility was heavily inspired by this Ruby implementation https://github.com/searls/todo_or_die

Usage

Install it from npm:

npm i todoordie

Once required, you can mark TODOs for yourself anywhere you like:

TodoOrDie("Update after backend is implemented", "2023-12-24");

To understand why you would ever call a method to write a comment, read on.

The awful way you used to procrastinate

In the Bad Old Days™, if you had a bit of code you knew you needed to change later, you might leave yourself a code comment to remind yourself to change it.

# TODO: rewrite with hooks before the next sprint
class UserList extends React.Component<{Props}> {
  ...
}

This is bad. The comment does nothing to remind the developer to actually update the code. If no one is working on this part of the system for a while, that code won't be updated soon

The cool new way you put off coding now

To use it, try replacing one of your TODO comments with something like this:

TodoOrDie("Rewrite with hooks", "2021-10-27");
class UserList extends React.Component<{Props}> {
  ...
}

Nothing will happen at all until October 27th, at which point the TodoOrDie will raise an error whenever this class is loaded until someone deals with it.

What kind of error?

For now, it's only a console.error kind of error. More configuration options will be available soon