A coder's scratchpad

I often find myself looking up “idiomatic” solutions to problems I find while coding. I'll waste time looking for how you're “supposed” to do something, and end up getting nothing done. It's a problem I've had since I've started coding, and it's only gotten worse as I've started using databases and deployment tools. Perhaps it's perfectionism getting in the way, or perhaps I've spent too much time on The Daily WTF and am subconsciously avoiding anything that could be considered funny to others. What I do know is that my productivity suffers as a result.

The solution is one I struggle with. Just do it. Write your code the way you think it should be done. If you're right, everything is fine. If you aren't, you'll find the idiomatic solution afterwards. Rewrites and adjustments aren't anything to be afraid of, and they aren't signs of being a bad programmer. Code doesn't cost anything to write, so feel free to experiment.