Ansel Adams developed the Zone System to translate the photographer's visualization of a scene into precise exposure and development decisions.
The scale runs from Zone 0 (pure black, no detail) to Zone X (pure white, no detail), with Zone V as middle gray (18% reflectance). The key move: you decide in advance which zone a critical shadow or highlight should fall in, then expose and develop accordingly.
Digital sensors have made the math easier but the underlying logic is unchanged: you are translating luminance values in the world into tonal values in the print.