[kellishaver]

What about commercial art and design? Would you consider those as having been "reduced to a craft" as well? One could look at this from the same perspective.

It all depends on your definition of art. For me, that's taking raw materials and making them into something beautiful, whether it's to solve a problem or elicit some sort of emotional/social/intellectual response, or make a statement is entirely irrelevant. Commercial art is every bit as much of an art. It's just art with a different purpose.

There is no reason code cannot be beautiful. Of course I don't mean that in a visual sense. It's letters and numbers and symbols that need to be structured in specific ways in order to function. But in an intellectual/functional sense, code can certainly be beautiful and creative and elegant.

I don't think the author's comparing a bit of C code to a Rembrandt painting in the visual sense, but saying that programmers should embrace those same ideals of creativity, innovation, and fluidity of thought that many artists do.

It's more about opening your mind to new ideas and learning to find and appreciate the beauty in the function of the code.

[steveklabnik]

You've summed it up very well.

[kellishaver]

Thanks.