Understand First

I don't start coding until I actually understand the problem. Half of engineering is asking the right questions before you touch a keyboard.

What This Means in Practice

When I get a new project or problem, my first instinct isn't to open an IDE — it's to ask questions. What's the actual goal here? What constraints are we working with? What's been tried before? Who's going to use this, and what do they actually need?

I've learned (sometimes the hard way) that jumping straight to code often means building the wrong thing faster. Taking time upfront to understand the problem space saves hours of rework later.

Why It Matters

• Prevents wasted effort on solutions that don't fit the real problem
• Surfaces hidden requirements before they become expensive surprises
• Builds alignment with stakeholders and teammates early
• Makes debugging easier because you know what "correct" looks like