Learning to "do it right" in a simpler setting is how we learn to apply the lesson in the real world. It's a lot more mental effort, at first, to write a progra

Learning to "do it right" in a simpler setting is how we learn to apply the lesson in the real world. It's a lot more mental effort, at first, to write a program this way. But over time, the exercise pays off and you find it natural to write more readable, correct, performant, etc. code as a result. Appropriate laziness is good engineering, but subject mastery comes from avoiding laziness and intentionally practicing. The trick is to figure out how much of this intentional practice you can get away with on the job ;)