Prior Work As a Starting Point For Higher Quality

Our daily work to get better is not without positive side-effects. One of the most powerful of these is the ability for us to build on prior work. These tools can be a huge productivity boost. That is the case whether we are starting with an application baseline or working from a document template.

Prior Work Is An Investment

Our daily steps to improve and become a better developer will generate deliverables at some point. These may not be highly polished production items we would send to a customer. Nevertheless, they are a start on that type of work. Therefore, our daily work on improving can also be seen as an investment in some yet-to-be-determined future projects. There is no guarantee we will be able to re-use that work. Thus, consider it a bonus when you do.

An Improvement In Quality

We have to be intentional about how we do our daily tasks to make the best use of them. However, the return on investment is substantial. We can take the work we initially did, refine and extend it, and then have a better product to build on in the future.

Think of a login form as an example. The first time we do it, maybe we just check an email and password stored in a database. Then we come back and use that as a starting point but are asked to encrypt the password and provide several checks for a strong password. Then we later are asked to do all of that in another project but need to add a forgot password option. Each time you build, you will re-test the prior code and be able to improve on the quality and your confidence in it.

Avoid Writer's Block

A little considered benefit of using prior work is that it gives us a starting point. We do not have to spend a bunch of time thinking through the problem or figuring out where to start. The starting work has already been completed for us (and by us). This prior work can be a huge advantage when you are trying to get something completed before a deadline. That just happens to be a common situation in my experience.

Episode Challenge: When did you last find a use in your prior work? Should you create a way to find that material easier?

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