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Art or science?
I am not denying that well written code could in some way be aesthetically pleasing or for that matter that successful artists and engineers share a similar intense dedication to mastering their craft.

I do however think that programming is a scientific and mathematical discipline rather than an artistic one. You might say that a "well written" program couldn't have been done any other way because that is the correct way.

I was re-reading the philosopher Daniel Dennett's book "Darwin's Dangerous Idea" recently and in it someone (I forget who and I don't have the book to hand) is asked if they were forced to make the choice of consigning one of the following to oblivion which they would choose: The Mona Lisa, Hamlet, War and Peace or Newton's Principia Mathematica. Without hesitation he chooses the Principia, because only Shakespeare could have written Hamlet but eventually someone other than Newton would have come up with the ideas in the Principia. This seems to me a crucial difference between art and science. Art is the personal and unique product of an individual and science is the discovery of truth.

Once proper methods have been developed no one would even think of performing a task in any other way, what Dennett would call a "forced move in design space". I would say programming falls firmly into the area of science and mathematics rather than art.
Posted by: jorwell   Posted on: 06/27/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use
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Art or science?  jorwell | 06/27/05
Art AND Science  mrterryc | 06/27/05
But science makes "beautiful" programs  jorwell | 06/27/05
Science describes the natural world.  Zinoron | 06/27/05
The ideas come first however  jorwell | 06/27/05
And an image is still an image regardless if its water color or oil  Zinoron | 06/27/05
Uniquely Newton  Anton Philidor | 06/27/05
Fascinating story (NT)  rapson | 06/27/05
Both, though I favour art...  John Le'Brecage | 06/28/05
Criteria for good and bad code  jorwell | 06/28/05
Good and bad art.  Zinoron | 06/28/05
Is science worth less than art?  jorwell | 06/28/05
No.  Zinoron | 06/29/05
What might make me cry, might not make you cry  John Le'Brecage | 06/28/05
Off topic  rapson | 06/27/05
I wish.  Zinoron | 06/27/05
What are these evil peoples names?  xkmail | 06/30/05
No, not really.  xkmail | 06/30/05
Elegant code  Anton Philidor | 06/27/05
A good analogy being...  John Le'Brecage | 06/28/05
artists and programming  pesky_z | 06/27/05
sorry for the mess  pesky_z | 06/27/05
No, we haven't forgotten  xkmail | 06/30/05
Art and Programming  slopoke | 06/27/05
Paint by numbers...  John Le'Brecage | 06/28/05
Classical musicians  jorwell | 06/28/05
The simplest definition of art is...  John Le'Brecage | 06/28/05
However  jorwell | 06/28/05
Already replied to you.  John Le'Brecage | 06/28/05
Ouch. I always post links wrongly.  John Le'Brecage | 06/28/05
"The Art of Programming" for FORTRAN  The_COMP-AID_Company@... | 06/28/05
This is an incredibly good thread...  dsentman@... | 06/29/05
Remember 9/11 ??  xkmail | 06/30/05
Ever talk about Jews or blacks ?  xkmail | 06/30/05
The difference  John Carroll ZDNet Moderator | 07/01/05

What do you think?

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