How many aggregate developer-hours spent fighting with this stuff, that could have been prevented by many many fewer developer-hours up front doing it right in

How many aggregate developer-hours spent fighting with this stuff, that could have been prevented by many many fewer developer-hours up front doing it right in the first place? How many aggregate developer-hours would have been lost waiting for it to be perfect rather than just better than whatever else was available at the time? Especially since perfection is a target that keeps moving as we learn more about what works and doesn't.