Thinking by Writing

In software engineering — or any kind of intellectual work — we often need to manage large amounts of contextual information in our minds. While memory capacities vary from person to person, everyone has a limit to the amount of information they can juggle at once.

This is where writing becomes essential. I want to emphasize the importance of creating a dedicated document (digital or even physical) for every significant intellectual task. This document serves as a living record, capturing the progression of your reasoning and thoughts as they develop.

Take, for instance, debugging a production issue. By opening a new document specific to the bug you’re investigating, you can consolidate all relevant information in one place. This might include logs, links to related code, outputs from debugging scripts, a timeline of events, hypotheses you develop, and records of discussions with colleagues. This document grows alongside your understanding until the bug is resolved and remains permanently linked to the issue.

There are three key advantages to this approach:

Clarity through explicit thought

Writing forces you to clarify your thinking. It’s easy to convince yourself that you understand something when it stays in your head. But the act of writing reveals gaps in your understanding, helping you refine your ideas into something more concrete.

Centralized information storage

A dedicated document becomes a one-stop repository for all relevant information, saving you from having to switch between different sources. It makes it easier to access everything quickly when needed.

Snapshot of your reasoning

Having a written record of your thought process allows you to pick up where you left off if you need to take a break or revisit the problem later. It also makes it easy to hand over the task to someone else if necessary.

Writing is a powerful tool for clarifying and organizing your thoughts. By documenting your reasoning process, you make problem-solving more efficient, ensure that information is easily accessible, and create a lasting reference for future use.