This is all a very neat summary, but I'll go out on a limb and say that for most of us, the first-order approximation should be "don't. Just don't". Been there

This is all a very neat summary, but I'll go out on a limb and say that for most of us, the first-order approximation should be "don't. Just don't". Been there. Done/sort of doing that. Have impressive collection of scars. There are no t-shirts to be had. This document only barely scratches the surface of the work necessary. If this is your calling, by all means, but expect to sink a good chunk of your life into it. Things are glossed over in a paragraph that mean years of work. (My favorite is the internationalization section, closing with "But don’t worry: there’s a standard. All you need to do is implement it." - All you need to do, indeed :) To be clear: Colin knows it's years of work. He's been working on a number of excellent projects in the space (xi-editor, druid, ...). But I really feel this deserves a warning sticker, lest you accidentally spend a decade or two of your life on it.