[Coco] How do you program?

[Jim Cox]

OK, here's another philisophical question for the group.

How do you program?  Assuming you know the programming 
langauge you are working with, do you just sit down at the 
computer and bang at the keys like a chimp, or do you 
think about what it is you want to do and what you what 
you need to do it?

If your answer is the latter, what steps do you take, 
meaning what is your thought process.  If it's the former, 
how often is your efforts successful the first time out?

I'm finding that learning how to think like a coder is 
harder than just learning the syntax and functions.

-Jim
PS: Still would like to get opinions about how to proceed 
with my career and moving to an engineering tech job.