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I have to agree with that Mark. However there is (or a least should be) a difference between writing something and committing something. It can be hard to hold a manager off when you've got "functional code that's still a bit rubbish" but getting to that stage first before going over the top can (in my experience) massively accelerate development

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Agreed. The question is whether, in those cases where you begin with a "rough version," you are afforded the time for refinement? Most clients don't understand code, much less the difference between good code and bad. And very few of them are equipped to evaluate the long term costs of maintaining bad code. Hell, very few of _us_ are equipped to do that. So I remain very wary of this concept that time spent thinking is time that could have been better spent at the keyboard. Too often you only get one shot.

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