Great Code Starts with Great Planning

Image Source: GrowMy.tech

Every developer dreams of writing clean, efficient, and impactful code. But what many overlook is the critical step that comes before the first line of code is even written: planning. Without a clear roadmap, projects can quickly spiral into chaos, leading to wasted time, frustration, and subpar results. Taking the time to carefully plan your approach not only sets a solid foundation but also makes the coding process smoother and more productive. In this article, we'll explore why planning is the cornerstone of successful development and how it can elevate your coding projects to new heights.

The Journey of a Beginner Developer

The internet is full of technical tutorials and advice on how to code effectively. But let’s take a step back and look at the bigger picture. No matter how many mistakes you make or how often things don’t go as planned, persistence is key. The journey of a developer comes with challenges, but it’s also incredibly rewarding. Stay committed, keep learning, and trust that your efforts will pay off over time. The code you write today has the potential to make a real impact.

It’s normal to feel discouraged sometimes, even the most experienced ones, has faced similar struggles. If you're feeling stuck, remember that it's just part of the learning process. Even I come across difficult topics that feel overwhelming at times, but with consistent effort, improvement always follows. Keep going, you’re making progress every day.

The Beginner Stage

As a beginner, it often feels like you're on an emotional rollercoaster. Some days, you’re unstoppable, completely focused on coding, excited about your progress, and confident that you’ve found your passion. On other days, the challenges feel too difficult.
A tricky concept or a bug that’s hard to fix might make you question your path, thinking, “Is this really what I want to do for the rest of my life?” It’s frustrating, and it’s easy to feel like the struggle is holding you back.

Navigating the Highs and Lows

This stage is tough, but it’s also crucial. It’s a phase where you’ll inevitably make mistakes and lots of them. There are many reasons for this. Perhaps you’re rushing to land your first job in tech, or maybe you’ve taken on low budget projects just to make ends meet. These pressures can lead to poor decisions, overly optimistic timelines, and code that isn’t as clean or efficient as you’d like. But here’s the truth, this is normal. Every seasoned developer you admire has been through this phase. It’s a rite of passage that helps you grow. You may feel like you’re just stumbling along, but every misstep teaches you something valuable. If you keep pushing forward, you’ll find your rhythm and reach the next level of your journey.

I can confidently tell you this, it’s all worth it. The struggles, the late nights, and even the failed projects they all contribute to your development as a programmer. So, keep coding. Keep learning. The only way to improve is to persevere.

Finding Strength in the Beginner Stage

While this stage might feel overwhelming, it’s also one of the most transformative phases of your journey. It’s here that you develop qualities that will serve you for the rest of your career. Among the most important are:

• Willpower: The determination to keep going, even when the odds feel stacked against you.
• Curiosity: An insatiable hunger to learn more and explore uncharted territories in programming.
• Ambition: The drive to push past your limits and achieve your goals.
• Resilience: The courage to embrace failures and use them as stepping stones toward success. Humility: The willingness to accept feedback, no matter how critical, and use it to improve.

These traits are your superpowers during this stage. Use them to fuel your growth. Let your ambition and curiosity guide you to new knowledge. Push yourself to take on challenges that seem just beyond your reach. And when you stumble, remember that mistakes are simply opportunities to learn.

At this stage, it’s also important to focus on the bigger picture. Yes, you and I have goals whether that’s building better apps, landing a dream job, or contributing to impactful projects. But our purpose as developers goes beyond personal achievements. With every line of code, we have the opportunity to add value to the world. By solving problems, simplifying processes, and sharing our knowledge, we can create meaningful change.

Plan First, Code Later

A great real world example of the "Plan First, Code Later" approach is how Instagram was initially developed.

In 2010, Instagram (then called "Burbn") was just an idea in the minds of its founders, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. Instead of jumping straight into coding, they followed a structured planning approach before writing a single line of code.

Case Study: Instagram's Early Development

Background
In 2010, Instagram (then called "Burbn") was just an idea in the minds of its founders, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. Instead of jumping straight into coding, they followed a structured planning approach before writing a single line of code.

Step 1: Analyzing Product Requirements
Initially, Burbn was a location based check-in app with a photo sharing feature. After conducting market research and analyzing user feedback, the team realized that users were mainly interested in the photo-sharing feature rather than the check-ins.

Lesson: Instead of coding an unnecessary check-in system, they refined their product requirements and pivoted towards a dedicated photo sharing app.

Step 2: System Architecture & Scalability Planning
Before coding, the team planned how the backend should handle millions of photos and user interactions. They chose AWS for hosting and used Django as their backend framework for rapid development while ensuring scalability.

Lesson: Without proper planning, they could have picked a technology stack that wouldn't scale effectively.

Step 3: UX/UI Planning Before Development
They designed a simple and intuitive user interface before writing any code. They focused on a minimalist approach, reducing clutter and unnecessary features, leading to an easy to use app.

Lesson: By planning the UI/UX beforehand, they avoided the need for major redesigns after coding.

Outcome
Because of their careful planning and iterative approach, Instagram launched with a lightweight, focused, and scalable system. Within two months, it gained 1 million users, proving the power of planning before coding.

Source: strategizeyourcareer

In programming, clarity in requirements, design, and implementation plays a crucial role in minimizing the number of fixes or bugs. Let's break this down:

1. Clarify Early → Fewer Fixes Later
   When requirements are well defined, developers know exactly what to build. This prevents misunderstandings and unnecessary revisions.
   A clear design ensures that architectural decisions are sound from the start, reducing structural issues later.
   Writing clean and well documented code makes debugging and future maintenance easier, reducing the chances of introducing new bugs when fixing existing ones.

2. Lack of Clarity → More Fixes Needed
   If requirements are vague, developers might make incorrect assumptions, leading to features that don’t match expectations.
   A poorly designed system can cause scalability and maintainability problems, requiring constant refactoring.
   Ambiguous or unstructured code can lead to hard to find bugs, increasing debugging time and causing more regressions.

As a beginner, you’ve likely experienced the highs and lows of learning to code. The excitement of progress mixed with the frustration of setbacks is part of the process. But here’s something that can make this stage more manageable: developing a strong foundation in planning before you dive into coding.

Let's take an example of "Plan First, Code Later" in a real coding scenario using Flutter

Before Planning (Jumping Straight into Code)

class UserListScreen extends StatefulWidget {
  @override
  _UserListScreenState createState() => _UserListScreenState();
}

class _UserListScreenState extends State<UserListScreen> {
  List<dynamic> users = [];

  @override
  void initState() {
    super.initState();
    fetchUsers();
  }

  Future<void> fetchUsers() async {
    final response = await http.get(Uri.parse('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/users'));
    if (response.statusCode == 200) {
      setState(() {
        users = json.decode(response.body);
      });
    }
  }

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Scaffold(
      appBar: AppBar(title: Text('Users')),
      body: users.isEmpty
          ? Center(child: CircularProgressIndicator())
          : ListView.builder(
              itemCount: users.length,
              itemBuilder: (context, index) {
                return ListTile(
                  title: Text(users[index]['name']),
                  subtitle: Text(users[index]['email']),
                );
              },
            ),
    );
  }
}

Problems with This Approach

1. Mixes UI and Business Logic: The fetchUsers() function is inside the UI, making it hard to test and maintain.
2. Tight Coupling: If the API changes, we must modify the UI code as well.
3. No Error Handling: What if the API fails? There’s no proper error message.
4. Not Scalable: If we add caching or other data sources (like a database), we will need major rewrites.

After Planning (More Effective & Maintainable Code)

Step 1: Define a Model (User.dart)

class User {
  final int id;
  final String name;
  final String email;

  User({required this.id, required this.name, required this.email});

  factory User.fromJson(Map<String, dynamic> json) {
    return User(
      id: json['id'],
      name: json['name'],
      email: json['email'],
    );
  }
}

Step 2: Separate Data Layer (UserService.dart)

import 'dart:convert';
import 'package:http/http.dart' as http;
import 'user.dart';

class UserService {
  Future<List<User>> fetchUsers() async {
    final response = await http.get(Uri.parse('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/users'));

    if (response.statusCode == 200) {
      List<dynamic> data = json.decode(response.body);
      return data.map((json) => User.fromJson(json)).toList();
    } else {
      throw Exception('Failed to load users');
    }
  }
}

Step 3: Use State Management (UserProvider.dart)

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'user_service.dart';
import 'user.dart';

class UserProvider extends ChangeNotifier {
  final UserService _userService = UserService();
  List<User> _users = [];
  bool _isLoading = true;
  String? _error;

  List<User> get users => _users;
  bool get isLoading => _isLoading;
  String? get error => _error;

  UserProvider() {
    fetchUsers();
  }

  Future<void> fetchUsers() async {
    try {
      _isLoading = true;
      notifyListeners();

      _users = await _userService.fetchUsers();
      _error = null;
    } catch (e) {
      _error = e.toString();
    } finally {
      _isLoading = false;
      notifyListeners();
    }
  }
}

Step 4: UI with Separation of Concerns (UserListScreen.dart)

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:provider/provider.dart';
import 'user_provider.dart';

class UserListScreen extends StatelessWidget {
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Scaffold(
      appBar: AppBar(title: Text('Users')),
      body: Consumer<UserProvider>(
        builder: (context, userProvider, child) {
          if (userProvider.isLoading) {
            return Center(child: CircularProgressIndicator());
          }

          if (userProvider.error != null) {
            return Center(child: Text('Error: ${userProvider.error}'));
          }

          return ListView.builder(
            itemCount: userProvider.users.length,
            itemBuilder: (context, index) {
              return ListTile(
                title: Text(userProvider.users[index].name),
                subtitle: Text(userProvider.users[index].email),
              );
            },
          );
        },
      ),
    );
  }
}

Step 5: Setup in main.dart

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:provider/provider.dart';
import 'user_provider.dart';
import 'user_list_screen.dart';

void main() {
  runApp(
    MultiProvider(
      providers: [
        ChangeNotifierProvider(create: (_) => UserProvider()),
      ],
      child: MyApp(),
    ),
  );
}

class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return MaterialApp(
      home: UserListScreen(),
    );
  }
}

Benefits of This Planned Approach

1. Separation of Concerns – Business logic, API calls, and UI are separate.
2. Scalability – Easy to add caching, local storage, or database.
3. Better Error Handling – Provides clear error messages.
4. Easier Testing – Can unit test the UserService without involving UI.
5. Less Boilerplate in UI – The UI is now focused only on presentation.

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When starting a new project or feature, it’s tempting to jump straight into coding because it feels productive. However, skipping the planning phase often leads to inefficiencies, unnecessary mistakes, and wasted effort. Taking the time to plan ensures a smoother development process and helps create cleaner, more maintainable code.

Planning doesn’t always mean lengthy documentation. For small tasks, it might be as simple as confirming requirements: “You want the button text changed to blue, right?” For larger projects, it involves defining specifications, gathering feedback, and securing approval. Without this step, you risk solving the wrong problem or overlooking key considerations.

Writing code too soon can also make it harder to communicate ideas, especially with non technical colleagues. Conversations, diagrams, and brainstorming sessions are often faster ways to clarify concepts than jumping into code. While coding can sometimes help explore a problem, any early code should be treated as a rough draft rather than a final solution.

Even informal planning breaking down a task into steps or considering potential challenges can help avoid issues later. By thinking ahead, you can refine your approach before writing code, ultimately saving time and reducing frustration.

Good planning doesn’t slow you down; it helps you move faster by preventing costly mistakes and ensuring you build the right solution from the start.

Thank you for reading this article! I hope it helps you understand the importance of planning before coding and how it can lead to better, more efficient development. Happy coding! 🚀

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References:
letterstoanewdeveloper
Michael Rothrock
Instagram Was First Called 'Burbn'