When learning something new, most people make one of two mistakes:
They either ignore best practices completely, or they follow them blindly.
A better approach is:
- Learn the best practices for doing X (by experience, talking to others, reading books etc.
- Do X a number of times following the best practices.
- Identify the situations in which the best practices don’t make sense and ignore them in those situations.
This is where expertise begins.
Beginners need rules because they lack context. Experts understand the context behind the rules. They know not only what works, but also when it works and when it doesn’t. Every best practice was created under certain assumptions and constraints.
The goal of learning isn’t to memorize best practices forever. It’s to understand the principles that gave rise to them.
Once you understand the principles, you can adapt them, modify them, or even ignore them when the situation demands it.
First learn the rules. Then practice the rules. Eventually, learn when to break the rules.
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