Local Development vs Testnet

So… most of the documentation points people to working on a testnet, which is great, but for a setup where I want to test and iterate quickly, a testnet isn’t going to fly.

Is the recommended approach for getting started to use a testnet?

I’ve been trying to follow along here to do local development, but running into some issues. One of the trickiest things is that all the docs point to using the studio, but for local development, you don’t.

Just looking for guidance here, thanks.