A structured approach to work with software development tasks (#72)

* Post on a structured approach to complete software development tasks

* Fix spelling mistakes

* rename

* Include some headings, add 'call to action'

content/posts/2023-06-01_a-structured-approach-to-work-with-software-development-tasks.md

@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+---
+title: "A Structured Approach to Work With Software Development Tasks"
+date: 2023-06-01T07:31:20+02:00
+tags: [ "development", "culture" ]
+featured_image: ""
+description: ""
+slug: "a-structured-approach-to-work-with-software-development-tasks"
+author:
+ - Rickard Andersson
+---
+Sometimes I see people (myself included) working on software development tasks in a non-structured way.
+You might have a vague understanding of what you're about to accomplish.
+Aimlessly traversing the code base, hoping to find places that you might need to change.
+You instantly start to chase new ideas, while forgetting about prior (and possibly important) ideas.
+It might be hard to determine when you're done.
+You might not commit intermediary working states, and have a hard time finding what you've messed up once something is broken.
+
+In this post, I aim to explain how I like to approach tasks in a bit more structured way.
+
+### Understanding the task
+
+First of all, you need to have a basic understanding the task.
+Read through the description.
+Do some reconnaissance.
+Anything that needs to be clarified?
+Is there anything you should **not** do? Can you move it to a separate task?
+Discuss with your team members, your product owner or possibly your end users.
+What parts of the codebase will be involved?
+Any external dependency that will need your attention?
+**Don't** get stuck here.
+You don't need to work out every detail.
+
+### High level plan
+
+Next, I like to convert my understanding to a high level plan.
+Depending on the size of the task - The plan might be a set of sub tasks, a checklist, or maybe just a few steps that you keep in mind.
+I prefer to have it in written form though.
+Prioritize the plan.
+If possible, I personally prefer to start with a naive end-to-end implementation of the main chunk of the feature.
+Delaying secondary but important aspects, such as input validation, proper error handling, etc.
+
+Now is an excellent time for a break.
+Stretch your legs, take some fresh air.
+
+### Execution
+
+Once you're back - Execute!
+Grab the first item from your high level plan.
+Write tests, implement.
+If your mind starts to stray towards items further down in your plan, stop!
+You'll deal with it later.
+If you get an idea of something important that you've completely forgot to account for in the high level plan - Don't chase that idea right now, simply add a note of it to the bottom of your high level plan.
+If you get stuck on a non-critical aspect of the item you're currently working on - Make it into its own item in the high level plan and deal with it later.
+
+### Review & Repeat
+
+Once you're done with the first item is an excellent time to commit to version control.
+This doesn't necessarily need to be a commit in your main branch - It could be squashed into a larger commit later as well.
+The purpose is to have a clean state before starting with the next item.
+Review your high level plan.
+Put a checkmark next to the item you just completed.
+Do you need to re-prioritize?
+Need to investigate something that you recently added?
+Once you're satisfied with the plan, grab the next item.
+Rinse and repeat.
+
+---
+
+I like to think of this approach as applying an agile workflow to a single task.
+You start with refinement and planning - Making sure you understand the task, define sub tasks, prioritize.
+Then, you deliberately work on single items, driving them to completion before starting new ones - Just like the tasks in your sprint board.
+
+When I use this approach I feel that it's easier to maintain focus, and I constantly feel a sense of progress when completing things in the high level plan.
+By delaying and taking note of new ideas, I avoid context switching while making sure that I don't forget important stuff.
+If you recognize your own behavior in my description of working in a non structured way - Please try this out!
+
+Hope you found it interesting.
+Thanks for reading!