The most inspiring talk I've ever heard was Richard Gabriel talking about that writing software is similar to writing poems. Poets often use a lot of effort to get few words just right - think Haikus - and we should strive towards the same kind of excellence when writing software.

Elegance and concisiveness (spelling?) is as important in programming as in poetry and math, and it requires a lot of effort to do so fluently.

See some of the points on http://www.dreamsongs.com/PoetryOfProgramming.html

The most inspiring talk I've ever heard was Richard Gabriel talking about that writing software is similar to writing poems. Poets often use a lot of effort to get few words just right - think Haikus - and we should strive towards the same kind of excellence and elegance when writing software.

Elegance and conciseness is as important in programming as in poetry and math, and it requires a lot of effort to do so fluently.

See some of the points on http://www.dreamsongs.com/PoetryOfProgramming.html