I do not like this approach, and I think it is not the right way for medium to large software projects. Maintaining lots of interacting 'just-good-enough' code

I do not like this approach, and I think it is not the right way for medium to large software projects. Maintaining lots of interacting 'just-good-enough' code is a nightmare - and it can easily cost you way more than you saved writing it. People get lazy and sloppy early enough. I would try to encourage teenagers to go for the best and most beautiful solution that they can possibly find.