Alright folks, let me tell you about this “quality start” thing I’ve been messing around with. I stumbled upon it while trying to, ya know, get my act together on some new projects. Seems like a fancy term, but it’s basically just about kicking things off the right way, instead of diving in headfirst and regretting it later.
So, what did I actually do? Well, first off, I stopped just opening up my IDE and hammering away. My usual MO is just write code till it works. Instead, I decided to try and actually think about what I was doing.
Here’s the breakdown of my “quality start” experiment:
- Define the Problem (Properly!): I took the time to really understand what I was trying to solve. Not just the surface level stuff, but digging into the “why” behind it. For example, instead of just saying “I need a script to automate this”, I asked “Why do I need to automate it? What problem am I trying to solve by automating it? How will I measure success?”
- Outline the Solution: This is where I usually skip to coding. But I really made an effort to properly describe what a ideal solution would look like. What would I do if I could snap my fingers and get it done. I used like a whiteboard to sketch out diagrams and flowcharts to help me visualize the process.
- Break It Down: I chopped the big problem down into smaller, manageable tasks. Instead of thinking “build the whole system”, I focused on “build this one specific function”. This made the whole thing less daunting.
- Plan My Tools: Instead of just using whatever tool I was familiar with, I stopped and thought about what tools would be ideal for the job. Do I need a database? Which language would be best suited? etc.
- Set Up My Environment: This includes creating a new project, setting up the necessary dependencies, configuring my IDE, etc. Basically, get everything in order before I start coding.
- Write Some Tests (Gasp!): I’m not a huge fan of testing, to be honest. But I figured I’d give it a shot. Writing tests before writing the actual code helped me think about the expected behavior and edge cases. It’s actually a neat hack.
- Start Coding (Finally!): Now that I’ve done all the prep work, I can actually start writing code. And because I’ve done all the planning, the coding itself is much smoother and more focused.
Here’s a concrete example: I wanted to build a script to automatically generate reports. My initial approach would have been to just start hacking away at some Python code. But with this “quality start” thing, I did the following:
- I Defined the Problem. I wasn’t getting the reports I needed when I needed them, and I ended up having to put them together manually.
- I outlined the Solution. A script that pulls data from a source, formats it, and sends it to me on a schedule.
- I broke it down into tasks. Pull Data, Format Data, Schedule the Reporting task.
- I planned my tools. I chose python with a library that allows scheduling.
- I set up my environment by setting up the virtual environment in Python.
- Started Writing tests. I thought about what the format would be for all the inputs to the scripts.
- I started Coding to work with all of my preparation.
Did it work? Honestly, yeah, it did. I was way more focused, less frustrated, and the end result was a much cleaner and more maintainable piece of code. Plus, it took less time overall, even though it felt like I was spending more time upfront.
Now, I’m not saying this is some magical cure-all. Some projects still need that “dive in and figure it out” approach. But for anything even remotely complex, this “quality start” thing is definitely worth a try.
Give it a shot and see what you think. Let me know if it works for you!
