What is the meaning of Python's philosophy "never is often better than *right* now" [closed]

Question

I don't quite understand the second sentence here from The Zen of Python:

Now is better than never.
Although never is often better than right now.

Can anyone explain it or give an example?

Answer 1

It is a two parter:

Now is better than never

Don't spend too much time planning and pre-optimising; get something down that does the job and iterate on it (or: fix that issue now rather than putting it off).

Never is often better than right now

But do put some thought into it, so you don't head off down a path that later means there's no graceful way back (see also: YAGNI).

Answer 2

I would imagine that the philosophy means that it is better to think of a solution rather than simply forestalling the inevitable (and causing problems later).

However, it is also better to think about what solution you will do first - don't write 'quick hacks' to solve the problem at hand.

So, It's best to fix that problem sooner rather than later, but don't immediately code whatever comes to mind, instead, think about that first and what ramifications your fix might have.