- get into the habit of developing according to the software life cycle stages (even when not strictly necessary for small programs)
- incremental technique: develop in small steps
- echo printing
  - print out values grabbed from user
  - for debugging
1) problem statement
2) map out overall plan
   - id classes necessary
   - id implementation steps to follow
   - outline program logic
   - write design document
3) consider design alternatives
   - better depends on metric
   - but remember, always developing for users