tinkering

Structured experimentation framework. When uncertain about an approach, don't hack at production code - create an isolated sandbox, try freely, then graduate successful experiments or discard failed ones cleanly.

Core principle: The output of tinkering is knowledge, not production code. A successful experiment teaches you how to solve the problem. The actual implementation happens after, informed by what you learned.

| "Will this library work for our use case?" | Yes | Unknown outcome, need to explore | | "Which of these 3 approaches is fastest?" | Yes | Comparing multiple options | | "How do I integrate this API?" | Yes | Technical spike, learning-focused | | "Add a login button to the header" | No | Clear requirement, use git branch |