I have a grey beard and have earned my right to have opinions on things, so:
> Most programming should be done long before a single line of code is written
I think via programming, and I think we should be building more prototypes. Upfront design almost always falls apart, and if you've invested too much into the design, you end up with some nasty frankenstein code. Get a good prototyping process in place instead, and write code and interfaces as early as possible, just make sure you're very willing to throw them away, review what worked, etc. The sooner you prototype, the sooner the "natural" design appears, and the less you've invested in it.
> Frontend development is a nightmare world of Kafkaesque awfulness I no longer enjoy
I like React much more than the shit I've enjoyed any of the run-up to it, and I've been building websites since the late 90s, working my way through server-side includes, hidden refreshing iframes, XMLHttpRequest, Prototype.js, jQuery ... and today's React just Makes Sense, man.
> Most programming should be done long before a single line of code is written
I think via programming, and I think we should be building more prototypes. Upfront design almost always falls apart, and if you've invested too much into the design, you end up with some nasty frankenstein code. Get a good prototyping process in place instead, and write code and interfaces as early as possible, just make sure you're very willing to throw them away, review what worked, etc. The sooner you prototype, the sooner the "natural" design appears, and the less you've invested in it.
> Frontend development is a nightmare world of Kafkaesque awfulness I no longer enjoy
I like React much more than the shit I've enjoyed any of the run-up to it, and I've been building websites since the late 90s, working my way through server-side includes, hidden refreshing iframes, XMLHttpRequest, Prototype.js, jQuery ... and today's React just Makes Sense, man.