Getting Started is the Hardest Part

Too often, when I'm trying to get started on a small, personal software project, I'm stymied by the time it takes to get the development environment and project infrastructure setup. With a full-time job as a developer, an addiction to cycling, and the responsibilities associated with being the parent of a two-year child, it's hard to find the mental energy and time to work on even a small software idea.  So when I do have an hour of mental energy available, the last thing I want to spend it on is project setup and configuration task. Maven archetypes to the rescue! Archetypes allow you to setup your project nearly instantly, and if you have appropriate Maven support in your IDE, you'll be ready to code within second (okay, minutes). If--and this is a big if--you can find an appropriately up-to-date archetype that provides the exact stack of technologies upon which your project will rely. So far, I don't seem to have such luck (can any one tell me where I can find well designed sampling of Scala-based Maven archetypes?) So instead of trying to start off with someone else's half-baked archetype each time I need to start a project, I've decided to take the time create my own archetype(s) that I can reuse and evolve for my own needs. The following Maven reference page was all I needed to figure out how to generated my own custom archetypes: http://maven.apache.org/archetype/maven-archetype-plugin/advanced-usage.html.