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Make It Work, Then Make it Pretty

Amy on January 17, 2020

I thought I'd write a small post about something that can both hinder and help a beginner programmer: wanting to write perfect code. It ...
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Mark

Speaking from personal experience mistake, make sure to commit (or otherwise save) your working, non-pretty code!

More than a few times I've had perfectly working (albeit sloppy) solutions that break after cleanup, and then I just have to just re-solve a problem.

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Amy

So true, plus its satisfying to see your progress over time

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Waylon Walker

Follow this advice in small increments. Fully completed projects that work never get cleaned up and become the thing no one wants to touch.

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Nested Software

This advice is as great for beginners as it is for very experienced people!

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Amy

I was thinking this, almost more so

An experienced developer might have too high standards for themselves or be anxious that their code isn't good enough for someone at their level

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Michael Z

What really helps me with this is TDD. You just make it work until the tests pass, then you can make it pretty and have the confidence that it still works.