In this video, I explain why the best engineers never start by coding.
Look, I get it. You have an idea, you’re excited about it, and your fingers are itching to open your IDE and start hammering out code. I’ve done this countless times myself. But here’s the thing: that’s usually how you end up with a complete mess three weeks later, wondering why nothing works the way you imagined it would.
The best engineers? They begin with clear plans, simple sketches, and fast prototypes to understand what truly needs to be built. Not fancy over-engineered architecture diagrams or 50-page documentation that nobody will read. Just enough planning to avoid wasting weeks building completely the wrong thing.
This approach reduces wasted work massively. You catch obvious problems before writing a single line of code. You realise that feature X doesn’t actually solve the real problem when you sketch it out on paper. You see that the data flow you had in your head won’t work in practice. All of this happens before you’ve invested days into implementation that you’ll have to throw away.
It also improves product quality because you’re thinking through edge cases, user flows, and technical constraints upfront instead of discovering them when it’s too late. And it gives you a much clearer path from idea to final outcome. No more “I’ll figure it out as I go” coding sessions that lead absolutely nowhere.
In this video, I’ll break down how to plan effectively without overdoing it, how to sketch out ideas quickly (honestly, pen and paper works brilliantly for this), and how to build throwaway prototypes that answer your biggest questions before committing to a full implementation.
Because at the end of the day, the fastest way to ship something good isn’t to code first and think later. It’s to think just enough, then code with clarity and purpose. Your future self will thank you for it.
I’ve developed numerous projects on my GitHub over the years. Feel free to browse them for inspiration or to contribute! And I’ve got more content coming your way on my LinkedIn.
Keep learning, researching, practicing, teaching, and growing! 🚀
