The One Question Frontend Developers Ask Before Writing Any Code

Before experienced frontend developers write a single line of code, they pause and ask one question:

“What is supposed to change here?”

That question sounds simple, but it does a lot of heavy lifting.

Why this question matters

Most frontend problems aren’t caused by missing syntax.

They’re caused by unclear change:

If those answers aren’t clear, the code that follows is usually fragile.

Beginners often skip this step

When you’re early on, it’s natural to jump straight into:

The goal is to “make it work.”

But without clarity on what should change, you end up:

That’s when frontend starts to feel unpredictable.

How this question changes your code

When you ask “What is supposed to change?” first, a few things happen:

You’re designing behavior before implementing it.

That’s a core frontend best practice.

A practical example

Before writing code, try answering this in plain English:

“When the user does X, what exactly changes, and what should stay the same?”

If you can’t explain that clearly, the code will struggle too.

Why this works long-term

Frontend development is mostly about managing change:

This question forces you to reason about those changes before the browser ever gets involved.

That’s how frontend stops feeling messy and starts feeling intentional.

👇 What’s a recent bug where the real issue was unclear change, not bad code?

Those moments are where good frontend habits are built.

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