Item 27: Avoid Trying to Get It Right the First Time

There's a reason why people say "Practice makes Perfect". There's also a reason why people say "Perfect is the enemy of good".

Don't try to implement the code perfectly the first time. It's impossible. Instead, think of your first draft of code like a "rough draft". You'll have to sit with the idea, edit it, refine it over time, before the fundamental meaning truly reveals itself to you.

This might come as a shock to you if you're used to getting "programming assignments" from schools and bootcamps where the end solution is known. Unfortunately we don't have that luxury in the real-world; we're paid to implement unsolved problems (most of the time). Thus, you're doing what everyone who's ever solved an unsolve problem has done: trying, getting it wrong, learning from your mistakes, and trying again.

The philosophy behind this is trial-and-error, arrow of knowledge, bricolage.

Like anything else, the more you work with it, the deeper your understanding will be. That will be reflected in the code, but it takes time. Perfect is the enemy of good.