Measure twice and cut it once in Software Development

Measure twice and cut it once is a known saying, but we have to remind ourselves in software development to follow this rule. The tendency is to dive into that coding sooner with the right intention, but the right intention does not count; the final product, stability and robustness is what counts.

What does this really mean in software development?

It is NOT about writing extensive documentation and it does NOT have to be that formal. Some companies dictate specific processes and what not, but if you remove all those out of equation, you have to ask yourself: "what do I as a software developer need and what do my teammates need?".

The answer to this might be as simple as the software developer writing the design on a piece of paper and presenting it to the tech lead in an informal conversation/meeting.

I am a big believer of the "one page" documentation. In this fast-paced industry of IT you have limited time to write documentation and also as the consumer of the documentation you have limited time to read and focus. If one page documentation cannot put you on the right path to do what you need, then a 10-page documentation will not help you either as you will most likely not read it.

Conclusion:
Measure twice, code once and code for your teammate who has to read/maintain your code. That's the mindset that you need to have as a developer.


Keywords: #softwareengineering #software #code #developer #development
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