Is Programming Art? 462
chromatic writes "A constant question for software developers is 'What is the nature of programming?' Is it art or science? Does creativity or engineering lead the design and implementation of a program? John Littler talked to several well-known and well-respected programmers (including Guido van Rossum, Andy Hunt, Bjarne Stroustrup, Paul Graham, and Richard Stallman) to find their answers; he shares their thoughts and his own in Art and Computer Programming." From the article: "What the heck is art anyway, at least as most people understand it? What do people mean when they say 'art'? A straw poll showed a fair degree of consensus--art is craft plus a special degree of inspiration. This pretty much explains immediately why only art students and art critics at a certain sort of paper favor conceptual art. Conceptual art, of course, often lacks a craft component as people usually understand the term."
What is art? (Score:2, Informative)
If Britney Spears can be referred to as an artist then gees, there's enough computer porn out there for programming to qualify as an art.
Re:Drivel (Score:1, Informative)
http://msoe.edu/eecs/se/ [msoe.edu]
http://www.se.rit.edu/ [rit.edu]
Didn't Knuth answer this already? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Not a fine art (Score:4, Informative)
All programming is a craft. Some of it may be crap, and some may be outstanding, but nonetheless, it is craft. Think of it like woodwork. Some pieces are shoddy little boxes nailed togather with scrap. Others are beautiful and extremely strong, with joints so tightly fit that the only way you even know they are there is by the change of the wood-grain.
*Some* programming is art. (Not much in my opinion.)
In addition to being a programmer, I'm a leatherworker. Most of what I do is pure craft, but not necessarily art. Belts, straps, repairs, pouches, etc.
*Sometimes* what I do is art. These are functional pieces with elaborate carving, painting and even occasionally gold leaf and such. They are one-of-a kind pieces that even if another craftsman copied them, would never be quite the same as the original.
That said, the vast majority of code out there is not even up to journeyman standards, let alone master-craftsman level.
Yes (Score:3, Informative)
Well, at least, that is what i think of it as. Anyone can write code. Writing code well and being innovative is an art.
this is also an art
http://gprime.net/images/sidewalkchalkguy/ [gprime.net]
Coolest thing i have ever seen.
...Now if only he could somehow hook it up to google maps..
Appropriate quote from Linus (Score:2, Informative)
And in my own opinion on the matter, I consider my source code to be art. I'm speaking simply about the way that the text on the screen appears -- symmetrical and balanced, with margins and lines flowing in and out to represent the structure of my thoughts, with beautiful blocks of comments dancing atop each block, all the similar operators on adjacent lines column aligned... I derive pure joy from just viewing a properly structured source file.
Perhaps it's not art -- rather just aesthetics -- but for me it's an expression of my love for the work that I do -- much like Linus said in his quote. It also makes reviewing old code much easier and more enjoyable than when it's a garbled mess of left-aligned or non-commented rubbish. The true joy? When a talented group of developers all discover a love for that same aesthetic, and over the years each of their code in all its perfect beauty becomes indistinguishable amoung them.