[teaearlgraycold]

The code needs to work, but given that the actual writing of code is not most of the work to be done I think it's worth the extra time in polishing the code. Like how Apple designs the internals of their products to look as good as the externals. Once you've spent billions on R&D for custom chips, PCB layouts, optimizing heat transfer, etc. you really owe it to your product to spend a couple million on the finer things.

Likewise, there can be an attitude of "Who cares about the code? I met the needs of the feature" that some devs will have. I've spent many an hour reading others' code, re-reading my own code over and over to learn the subtle differences in readability, cleanliness and maintainability between approaches. I want others to have some craftsmanship when writing code if we're working together. That also means getting the little details right in the user-facing parts.

Most importantly you need humility when it comes time to throw away the code you felt so good about. All code is trouble. The best code is no code. Don't let your well crafted code get in the way of deleting what needs to get deleted.