Following programming ‘best practices’ will slow you down

Who hasn’t stolen a cookie from the jar when Mom wasn’t looking? Or stayed out with friends long after bedtime? Or — God forbid — taken the shortcut through the park where shady people lurk, instead of going the long way over the main road? Or, yes oh yes, which programmer hasn’t violated one of those etched-in-stone best practices, you know, one of the ones that you should follow at all costs? It’s safe to say that many, if not most, of us have done this bef