Edit wiki/software-workflow.md — Work Reflections

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# software workflow

think first, types first, then implement. learned from a teammate at a neurotech startup.

## the process

1. do a LOT of thinking and iterating on a base idea
2. work through types and function types
3. design UX and frontend-backend connections
4. use flowchart tools and whiteboards for planning
5. *then* implement

the key is step 1 — spending serious time on the idea before writing any code. this feels slow but saves enormous time. "start with good understanding & foundation — right now not spending much effort and still going great because just have great understanding."

## thinking before building

this connects to [[zooming-out]] — spending time thinking about a problem gets insights you miss while tunneled. the software workflow makes this structural: you can't start coding until you've thought through the types.

types are the skeleton. once you have the types right, the implementation almost writes itself. function signatures, data shapes, API contracts — get these right and the rest follows.

## prototyping

"prototyping is so great." but prototyping and the think-first workflow aren't contradictory — you prototype the *idea*, not the code. sketch it out, iterate on paper or whiteboard, then prototype in code with a clear picture of what you're building.

## presenting your work

"presenting went not the best because didn't prep." even great software needs to be communicated well. prep for demos. "having a pretty cool thing to show off and demo is very powerful" — invest in making your work presentable.

## MVPs

"bouncing ideas off people is such a good experience." show, don't tell. an MVP beats a pitch deck. this connects to the [[electronics-workflow]] breadboard-first approach — get something working, then show people.