...That you should do only a bare-bones implementation for one part of the program, while simultaneously making other parts ultra-sophisticated - presumably bec

...That you should do only a bare-bones implementation for one part of the program, while simultaneously making other parts ultra-sophisticated - presumably because the other parts are more interesting or more necessary for a wishy-washy long-term goal. Now I've realized that the #1 thing is that every piece of code should provide good user value and justify its presence, even if the code itself is written in a simplistic or unattractive way. (My second longest-held assumption is that I should be "efficient" and write great code once and forever that will solve all my problems for some domain. It never happens, and these days I'm more patient and happy to see possibilities for improvement down the road.)