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Good programmers sometimes have to do weird things.

Leaving a note about that weird thing is probably a good idea.




I agree with this, but I also think it's better if you can avoid the weird thing.


In my experience:

A novice programmer will just do the weird thing (no comments).

An intermediate programmer will spend twice as much time as they should, trying to think of an elegant solution, before doing the weird thing anyways (and maybe leaving a comment).

A good programmer will just do the weird thing, leave a comment, and move on.


I somewhat agree, except possibly for the "should". I think that trying to think of an elegant solution (and then accepting that you can't, where appropriate) is an important learning process. Of course this depends on context; spending time on learning is sometimes inappropriate.


I agree with that. Perhaps more accurate phrasing would be "more time than the seasoned developer would have". Part of getting to the third stage is learning those types of lessons during the second stage - which only comes with experience.




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