Rationale: The Senior Engineer's First Question

Overview

The difference between a junior developer and a senior engineer is one question: "Should we actually build this?" Junior developers accept every request at face value. Senior engineers interrogate the request itself before touching a keyboard. Most wasted engineering effort traces back to building the wrong thing, not building the thing wrong.

Core principle: Challenge every request with the same rigor you would apply to a production code review. The cheapest feature is the one you never build.

No exceptions. No workarounds. No shortcuts.

The Prime Directive

NO WORK WITHOUT QUESTIONING WHETHER THE WORK IS WORTH DOING

If you have not evaluated the necessity, effort, and alternatives for a requested piece of work, you are operating as a yes-machine, not an engineer. Proceeding without rationale analysis is engineering malpractice.

When to Use