[mattchamb]

To interpret your example in another way, a page working in IE is doing it right. So first you do it, and structure it the way you think it should be done with "correct" markup. Once you have that, you can then do it right and get it working properly in IE. After that, doing it better would be restructuring things so maybe you dont need as many hacks.

[pixl97]

Reality: Your employer doesn't pay you to write 'right' software, they want a deliverable that works in IE by end of day tomorrow and for the life of you, you can't figure out where half the elements are actually displaying.

[stouset]

Reality: it is far easier to iterate on software that’s clean and mostly correct than it is to do on software that is riddled with hacks, gotchas, footguns, and long-distance side effects.

It’s extremely depressing working with “senior” engineers who’ve spent an entire career with the above mentality, who have missed out on any chance at ever learning how to actually engineer software for reliability and maintainability. Their inability to do so reflects on a lack of practice rather than some sort of fundamental impossibility. Which sadly seems to be a widespread misconception these days.