Number 3 has some merit. But. Number 3 is also the cause of much grief. I have had to deal with the consequences of "gun/guru" developers doing 3 because it is

Number 3 has some merit. But. Number 3 is also the cause of much grief. I have had to deal with the consequences of "gun/guru" developers doing 3 because it is easy, without them considering the effects on those who use the systems in question. It is our responsibility to look at what is needed and what complexities, if any, are required to achieve the results. Of course, the opportunities to actually talk with the end-user of any software system is rarely available in the normal course of development, especially for junior programmers. It would be a useful tactic to have all programmers have to deal with the end-users and actually face their complaints and have to learn what the code is doing to those end-users.