The best knitting patterns I've seen do both. If you look at the classic Elizabeth Zimmerman Baby Surprise Jacket* it has the pattern both in the "keep doing this, increasing each row until you've got 25 [27, 29]" stitches form, and also each row individually laid out. I found that very helpful for both allowing me to carry on without reading the pattern every 2 seconds, but also having something to check on if I wasn't 100% clear.

* Which has really cool construction, and I thoroughly recommend