> Build the mental model of the software before touching code This x1000. This goes for starting fresh, and coming back to existing code. Too many times I hav

> Build the mental model of the software before touching code This x1000. This goes for starting fresh, and coming back to existing code. Too many times I have seen horror that was the result of developers diving right in to coding without spending any time at all having a complete mental model of what they're doing.