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> Always define the API first

Impossible. What will the API serve? A list of horses? Wouldn't work if the user needs a mortgage calculator. There is no choice but to define the front-end first. The question is whether it's defined nebulously or with thought - it's rare for thoughtlessness to be the optimal strategy.

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For backend engineers who have trouble understanding that the front end is what all the work is in service of, tell them that the frontend us the Tests for their Test Driven Design.

I say this as a backend engineer. The backend genius shines when we figure out how to serve the frontend efficiently (low compute cost) and adapt to rapidly changing frontend requirements without delaying releases.

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