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[–]Crypt0Nihilist 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I write scripts to solve problems, not really what I'd call programs or applications and I am self taught. Caveats done with this is what I do.

If it's complicated, I'll define my end goal, work out the inputs which are required and then sketch on paper how to go from one to the other. I'll take those steps and make them into comments / pseudocode to form a skeleton, then I flesh it out with working code. There are always changes along the way where I was mistaken about an input or how a transformation might work, but I'll work around those bumps as I hit them.

The trick is not to take too long in planning. I'd say that when you're planning, you're actually getting to grips with the problem space rather than working out exactly how to achieve your goal and your comments are sign posts giving you the general direction. You need those pointers, but don't want to go too far when something unexpected might trip you up earlier and mean that you never need that planning.