The balance between beauty/structure and effectiveness is tough to get right. There are cases where functional programming is essential, and there are cases wh

The balance between beauty/structure and effectiveness is tough to get right. There are cases where functional programming is essential, and there are cases where it's an absolute overkill. Developing the judgment to tell which is which is this 'experience' part. 25 years in this industry and I still undergo frequent regret when I write ugly-but-effective code, and frequent anxiety when I have to write 300 lines to accomplish what can be accomplished in half that. Time-preference is a blessing and a curse.