I don't know if I fully agree with the GP's idea that this is the canonical definition of a TODO list, but I don't think short-term memory alone is sufficient f

I don't know if I fully agree with the GP's idea that this is the canonical definition of a TODO list, but I don't think short-term memory alone is sufficient for the current project in all cases. For the creative process of design I tend to agree you usually don't need to keep notes, but for the creative process of code architecture I think external notes are often necessary, especially if there is any significant refactoring of existing code involved.