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Comment by quackerhacker | Hacker News Reader

I think coding kinda forms us to be perfectionists, because a small mistake can disable entire programs.

I'll share my epiphany that I've learned from HN that PG said...if we're not embarrassed at launch time, it's too late. Being a perfectionist my self, it's a brilliant statement.

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Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn, has a similar quote, "If you're not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late." I don't know if one came before the other. Reguardless it's a good sentiment to have. The only thing that matters is launching. You can find the perfect shade of blue for that button after you launch.

Funny you mention styling, this is where a lot of my time gets consumed...CSS3 (love & hate)

He has a lot to still be embarrassed about. LinkedIn is the worst interface I've ever seen.

I don't know I've met my fair share of lazy "good enough" programmers that happily reuse code they wrote months, even years ago.

What's wrong with reusing code? Isn't that exactly what libraries (and frameworks) are for? Isn't that a fundamental programming principle (code reuse)?

Yeah, I don't see the problem with this. If the code is known to work, why do it over again? Just because it's a month old doesn't mean it's necessarily bad. Remember, laziness is one of the three primary virtues of the programmer.

http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?LazinessImpatienceHubris

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