> The RFC approach has several advantages over verbal alignment. First of all, it is more precise. The need to write forces the author to clearly structure their thoughts into a coherent logical narrative. While writing, the author has time to examine their proposed solution from different angles and clearly see pros and cons of it.

> Another advantage of the document over verbal explanation is that a well-written RFC leaves little room for misinterpretation. It can include diagrams, examples, or calculations to illustrate and support the idea.

> Finally, we can return and reread the RFC later. Human memory is unreliable; already after a day, details that were crystal clear in one’s mind start to get blurry. When these details are written down, it is easy to review them at any time.

‘You have to write things down, because spoken words disappear into the air,’ was one of the first bits of feedback I received in my teacher training.

> The most common objection is that writing proposals is “a waste of time” compared to writing code.

The extra time spent writing is actually spent thinking.