[jacquesm]

This is so true. I usually write things three times: the first time to get a feel for the space, the second to solve the problem at hand. This then gives me actual understanding and them I'm ready to really solve the problem, usually with a fraction of the memory requirements and one or more orders of speed gain and less code to boot.

Very rarely do I hit anything near to an optimal solution the first time out of the gate.

[edblarney]

Bingo.

1st iteration: 'does it' (barely) but kinda looks hacky 2cnd iteration: better. actually works. 3rd iteration: looks clean, concise, pro, something to be proud of!

3rd time is a charm in software.

It's unbelievable how much clearer and more concise the code is 3rd time around.

If you can ever actually get away with this on a project ... highly recommended.

[_ao789]

I would love to have the opportunity to do this is my working life projects as most of the time while I'm doing iteration1, I have various others breathing down my neck about getting the next list of tasks in the sprint done as well. Time, and keeping others away is my hurdle.

[jacquesm]

The interesting thing is that in the longer term the third iteration will be the winner because it is more maintainable and most likely much easier to understand.

[jwatte]

So, ship version one, early, and figure out whether it's worth keeping at all, or whether to kill it and not waste time on versions 2 and 3.