[dave_sid]

I'd have to disagree there. No matter how good a developer you are, if you're in a rush, you're not going to output the same quality. There's always going to thousands of decisions in a programmers head where they could take time to make something more efficient. If time is the top priority, then well designed code isn't.

And for what it's worth, I don't think that code needs to be perfect. If you're testing out an idea, your code may just need to be good enough to test the idea. Then when the idea has been validated, you can worry about perfecting the code.

[bjourne]

Well I disagree with you. :) Being in a rush almost by definition means that you have to perform faster than you're capable of. But the point is that you can push your limit on what "being in a rush" means by practicing. A few hours might be impossibly rushed for one programmer while it is ample time for another. Furthermore the more you train yourself on writing good code, the less of a speed advantage it is to write bad code.