Day 15 of 100daysofcode : The Power of Planning - Avoiding Coding Chaos
Today’s lesson comes from a hard-earned experience: the critical importance of planning before you start coding. Early in my coding journey, I jumped into a project, full of enthusiasm, without a clear plan. Let’s just say it was a learning experience !
I was so eager to bring my idea to life that I skipped the planning phase entirely. I started writing code immediately, adding features as they popped into my head. It felt great initially, like building something from scratch. However, as the project grew in complexity, things started to unravel.
The Conflict:
The biggest problem I encountered was when I tried to integrate a new, seemingly simple feature. Because I hadn’t thought about the overall architecture, my existing code was completely incompatible with the new functionality. I was forced to refactor large portions of the codebase, a task that was significantly more difficult and time-consuming than if I had planned for it from the beginning. It was a frustrating reminder that coding without a roadmap can lead to a tangled mess.
The Lesson:
This project taught me a vital lesson: Planning is the foundation of successful software development. Before writing a single line of code, it’s essential to:
- Clearly Define the Scope: Determine exactly what your project will and won’t do. Setting boundaries early prevents scope creep and keeps your project manageable.
- Design the Architecture: Think about how the different parts of your project will interact. A simple diagram or even a list of components can be incredibly helpful. Consider data flow and how information will be stored and accessed.
- Anticipate Future Needs: Imagine how your project might evolve. What features might you want to add later? Planning for potential future expansions will influence your initial design choices and prevent costly rewrites down the line.
- Develop Scenarios/User Stories: Describe how users will interact with your project. Think about the steps they’ll take, the information they’ll need, and the outcomes they’ll expect. This helps uncover potential usability issues and edge cases early on.
Example of Scenarios:
Let’s say I was building a simple cart management tool. Some example scenarios I should have considered are:
“As a user, I want to be able to add new items to the cart, specifying their name, quantity, and price…”
“As a user, I want to be able to generate a report of all items in the cart.”
“As a user, I want to be able to update the quantity of an existing item.”
By planning and writing these scenarios, I would have identified the need for a database, search functionality, reporting capabilities, and update mechanisms before I started writing code. This would have saved me from having to drastically restructure my project later.
Moving Forward:
Now, I always take the time to plan before I start coding. It might seem like it slows me down initially, but it actually saves me a lot of time and frustration in the long run. Planning isn’t just about preventing conflicts; it’s about creating cleaner, more maintainable, and ultimately more successful projects.
100daysofcode lebanon-mug