Chapter 1. Introduction to Build First
This chapter covers
- Identifying problems in modern application design
- Defining Build First
- Building processes
- Managing complexity within applications
Developing an application properly can be hard. It takes planning. I’ve created applications over a weekend, but that doesn’t mean they were well-designed. Improvisation is great for throw-away prototypes and great when concept-proofing an idea; however, building a maintainable application requires a plan, the glue that holds together the features you currently have in mind and maybe even those you might add in the near future. I’ve participated in countless endeavors where the application’s front-end wasn’t all it could be.
Eventually, I realized that back-end services usually have an architect devoted to their planning, design, and overview—and often it’s not one architect but an entire team of them. This is hardly the case with front-end development, where a developer is expected to prototype a working sketch of the application and then asked to run with it, hoping that the prototype will survive an implementation in production. Front-end development requires as much dedication to architecture planning and design as back-end development does.