Does Beautiful Code Imply Beautiful Design?
Rebecca Wirfs-Brock · IEEE Software · 2007
This article claims brevity can contribute to code beauty-clarity of purpose, expressive use of the programming language, and design elegance also play a part. But is there more to good design than beautiful code? A good design is more than cleanly, clearly, and consistently expressed code. Beautiful code is beautiful only if it preserves and makes evident the designer's intent. What was once a good design often degrades as new functionality is added. It would be great to throw code away and rebuild it anew every few years, but that's not practical. Instead, the code should be made habitable.