Irregular spacing is something that is abused a lot and I think that, as a basic guideline, it should be adhered to for maybe 70% of the map. I pulled that figure out of thin air, but I don't want to see new mappers getting into bad habits straight away. Potentially, you could get away with a lot of quirks, as long as players find them fun and challenging, but it only makes it more likely that you'd annoy a large number of players.
Learn to make interesting and challenging patterns within the constraints of distance snap--1.0 generally works well when aligning hitcircles with sliders, but 0.8-0.9 can be notably good when making intricate structures, such as honeycombs, with curved sliders. For your first map, you should focus on making each difficulty feel consistent with the other, while creating clean patterns and focusing on playability. In that regard, 1/1 jumps tend to work best for me, as 1/2 jumps tend to get messy if abused too much.
Also, please do not create patterns which have objects switched arbitrarily, because they usually end up being unfair and needlessly confusing. You can make loads of distinct and interesting patterns by combining small, basic shapes with equal spacing. Don't be afraid to ask me or others for more subjective pointers. It's impossible for one person to lead by example, so get as many opinions as you can and see what works for you and only you. Copying the quirks of popular mappers only works with enough experience to be able to adapt them contextually.