How do you decide whether a coding agent should plan before editing?

Instruction: Describe when planning adds value before code changes.

Context: Checks whether the candidate can explain the core concept clearly and connect it to real production decisions. Describe when planning adds value before code changes.

Updated

Example Answer

I'd plan when the change has dependencies or uncertainty that should be resolved before editing. Renaming a public request field needs a short plan covering the server, callers, compatibility behavior, and tests. Correcting a typo in a comment may need no separate planning step.

The plan should name the likely files, the behavior being changed, and how completion will be checked. If inspection shows an additional caller or a migration, I'd revise the plan before widening the patch. I'd also compare the final diff with the plan; otherwise it becomes prose that never constrains execution. Planning earns its cost by revealing a missed dependency, not by being long.

Why this works

Shows when planning changes an engineering decision and how the plan remains useful during execution.

Practice follow-up

What discovery should trigger replanning rather than an immediate extra edit?

Your preparation path

Work through these questions in order. Read the answer aloud, then explain it in your own words.

1. Start with the foundations

Build the vocabulary and explain the core decisions.

  1. When is a coding agent the right tool instead of autocomplete or manual engineering? Free sample
  2. What information should a coding agent persist between steps? Free sample
  3. Why do tests matter differently for coding agents than for chatbots? Free sample

2. Apply it to a real workflow

Practice diagnosis, validation, and everyday tradeoffs.

  1. What makes a patch proposal safe enough to apply automatically? Free sample
  2. The agent can find the bug, but its patches are hard for humans to review. What would you change? Member answer
  3. How would you verify a coding agent's web feature beyond a passing build and a screenshot? Free sample

3. Prepare for senior discussions

Explain failure boundaries, recovery, and production choices.

  1. A coding agent can modify infrastructure, app code, and data access layers in one task. How do you constrain it? Member answer
  2. Two coding agents change an API and its client in parallel. How would you integrate their work safely? Member answer
  3. A coding-agent hook runs before the repository trust prompt. What is wrong with that design? Member answer

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