[originally posted on alanwsmith.com by @TheIdOfAlan]
I spent a couple hours last night modifying a script to do the same thing it was already doing.
Refactoring, but not really. I was trying something different. Trying to get better at test-driven development. Testing everything.
The script is small. Just 100 lines. I could have written it in half that and been done in 20 minutes. Instead, I’ve spent hours on it. I’m not only okay with that, I’m embracing it. I’m practicing. Practicing on the small stuff so my skills are sharp when I get to the big stuff.
I felt foolish at first, spending so much time on such a small script. But, I’m over that. It’s like a musician doing scales. It’s how you get the notes in your fingers and the chords in your head.
It’s how you get better.
Top comments (1)
I totally understand and feel this. I spent a few day to redesign my very old personal website what I did not touched ~6 years now.
After I built the pure frontend (plain template) under 30 seconds, then spent 4 days to think about the API/backend security and optimalization instead of finishing it under 10 minutes :D
There is a meme for this - what somewhat apply:
