Type what blocks what and get a laid-out graph back: layered automatically, cycles found and called out, a topological order to work in, and the critical path measured in your own units. Exports Mermaid for your docs and SVG for a slide.
a -> b means a blocks b. Put several on the right: a -> b, c.
Label and annotate a node on its own line: a: Build the parser [3] (wip).
States: todo · wip · done · blocked. Lines starting # are ignored.
The longest chain of dependent work. Shortening anything else does not move the end date.
A topological order — every item appears after everything it depends on.