Asking the right question

I recently watched a YouTube video about not turning Neovim into VS Code by Jannik Buhr.

In the video, he compares asking two questions:

How do I get VS Code tabs in Neovim?

How do you work with multiple files in Neovim?

Depending on which question you ask, you'll get quite different answers.

The same is true when working on software projects.

A client or Product Owner may request some new functionality or a change to the existing code, but ideally, you want to understand what caused the request.

You want to understand the problem to suggest the appropriate solution and not be locked into a pre-selected solution.

If you understand the problem, you may be able to solve it in a different way that could be easier or faster to do, or easier to maintain.

You may be able to suggest a short-term solution that means you can meet a deadline or work around a blocker, and implement a different solution in the future.

If you don't understand the problem or what you're trying to achieve, you can't make the best suggestions.

Ask the right questions.