Writing code with pencil and paper (2022)
I couldn't disagree more.<p>If you're finding yourself reaching for pen and paper to write actual code, then your tooling sucks.<p>Your IDE isn't suitable for prototyping, or something else is going wrong.<p>I'm not suggesting that nothing in the planning phase should be white-boarded, but pen is the wrong medium for code.<p>You should have a tool where you can fire up your tooling and be writing the same thing you would write on paper, but with autocompletion, error feedback and browsable interactive output.<p>In my experience that's far more appropriate an environment for rapidly getting something down and working through the problem.<p>By all means, start with pen and paper to get a feel for the problem domain, but that process should stop short of actual code, and this article doesn't really sell me on the benefits.<p>I'd rather test my assumptions in something like LinqPad, where I'll get real feedback not just a "feeling" about what I've written.