Good code is not just about making things work—it's about making things work well, together.

When starting a new feature, junior devs often jump into coding. Senior devs pause to think first.

In this post, I’ll walk you through a mental checklist I use before writing a single line of code—something I’ve honed over years of building frontend features in React, Next.js, and beyond.

1. Understand the Feature

Before writing JSX...

• What does this component need to do?
• Are there dynamic behaviors like modals, dropdowns, and toggles?
• Will it fetch data? From where? How often?
• Can I reuse existing hooks, utilities, or services?

Think: What problem am I solving, and has someone already solved parts of it?

2. Map the Data Flow

Clarity here avoids spaghetti later.

• What are the inputs? (props, query params, context)
• What outputs or events does it trigger? (onClick, onChange)
• How will data flow across components?
• Do I need a wrapper or a layout component?

Think: Can a future teammate trace this flow in 30 seconds?

3. Choose the Right State Strategy

Every piece of state needs a home.

• Local (useState) or lifted to a parent?
• Global (Zustand, Redux, Context) if shared across features?
• Should it persist? (e.g., localStorage)
• Does it affect multiple components or pages?

Think: Am I overengineering or under-planning the state?

4. Design for Reusability

Avoid copy-pasting tomorrow what you hardcode today.

• Can this component or part of it be reused?
• Should I make it generic (e.g., Dropdown) or contextual (e.g., UserDropdown)?
• Do we already have something similar I can tweak?
• Should this logic live in a custom hook or utility?

Think: Will I regret hardcoding this next week?

5. Don’t Ignore Performance

Bad UX often hides behind slow code.

• Are we dealing with large datasets, rapid user input, or complex visuals?
• Use debounce, memoization, or virtualization where needed.
• Can I break this into smaller pieces to reduce re-renders?
• Are there animations or blocking tasks that need concurrency?

Think: Will this slow down on low-end devices?

6. Plan for Failure (Because It Will)

A broken UI is a bad experience. Silence is worse.

• What happens if the API fails? Or returns no data?
• Do we need retries? Fallbacks?
• Should we use ErrorBoundary, Suspense, or manual error states?
• How do we inform the user and log the issue?

Think: Can this fail gracefully?

Final Thoughts

The goal isn’t to overthink—it’s to pre-think.

Spending 10–15 minutes planning a feature can save hours of refactoring, debugging, and technical debt.

🛠️ Code is craft. Build thoughtfully.