[kiitos]

> but at some point most of the code you write in a given environment is rote

"Most of the code one writes in a given environment is rote" is true in the same sense that most of the words one writes in any given bit of text are rote e.g. conjunctions, articles, prepositions, etc.

[tptacek]

Some writers I know are convinced this is true, but I still don't think the comparison is completely apt, because deliberately rote code with modulated expressiveness is often (even usually) a virtue in coding, and not always so with writing. For experienced or enthusiastic coders, that is to say, the effort is often in not doing stupid stuff to make the code more clever.

Straight-line replacement-grade mid code that just does the things a prompt tells it to in the least clever most straightforward way possible is usually a good thing; that long clunky string of modifiers goes by the name "maintainability".