That depends what you are jiggling around :-) If you can't immediately make basic loops work, then yes, you shouldn't be anywhere near production code yet. But

That depends what you are jiggling around :-) If you can't immediately make basic loops work, then yes, you shouldn't be anywhere near production code yet. But if it's starting to use some advanced OO concept, a new protocol or similar, experimentation and learning-by-doing is a very valid approach, even if you are highly experienced. If it was not alright to code something without understanding every single layer from the highest to the lowest level, not many programmers would get anything done. Except maybe Linus Thorvalds or Steve McConnell :-)