Learning Adaptability
A few weeks ago, my laptop crashed during a meeting. It was painful as I was about to start on an exciting new feature that my Product Owner (PO) had just proposed. I immediately rushed to the IT department for assistance, and they informed me that they needed to take a backup and completely rebuild my laptop. They estimated that rebuilding would take slightly over a half day to complete. Feeling frustrated, I asked myself: “Can I code without my laptop?”. In the past, I would have answered ‘NO’ without hesitation. But on second thought, I realized that I know my system well and am also familiar with the domain. After more introspection, I recognized that I was already doing it without consciously realizing it. So, I went to my PO and requested him to print the new requirements for me.
From Requirements to Success Criteria
There are numerous factors that a software engineer must consider before writing even a single line of code. First and foremost is understanding the business problem and who the actors are. Once you have a clear understanding of the requirements, it enables you to identify any flaws in the requirements or if it contradicts any existing features. You can then break it down into manageable pieces and think about how to reuse those pieces or determine if something already exists. This process helps you to define the final success criteria.