I've found that in many environments, particularly on the web, it's much harder to make sure you've accounted for all the quirks and interactions with related s

I've found that in many environments, particularly on the web, it's much harder to make sure you've accounted for all the quirks and interactions with related systems than it is to find the right basic algorithm. There have been few times I've really thought something like "If only I'd known about A*!", but comparatively many times I've thought something like, "If only I'd thought to test two-finger swiping on a touch device with both fingers inside the element created by that javascript." EDIT: Also, maybe more importantly, I never feel more tempted to give up than when I know I've solved the basic problem but some environmental factor prevents the solution from being usable. The fun part is over, and if I want to make progress I have to dive into docs and other people's source code, and write good tests. I think there's more difference between someone who gives up at that stage and someone who doesn't than there is between someone who knows a particular algorithm and someone who doesn't.