Is Programming Art?

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."

Comments

Not a fine art

[fembots]

I think Richard Stallman put it quite nicely:

"I would describe programming as a craft, which is a kind of art, but not a fine art. Craft means making useful objects with perhaps decorative touches. Fine art means making things purely for their beauty."

When you have to take functionality into account, it often kills the artistic side of the creation.

Re:Not a fine art

[SIGALRM]

Since programming is an art, we ought to be able to classify types of programmers. Here is a start;

The Picasso programmer: As a whole the system works, but each piece is a warped view of reality.

The Jackson Pollack programmer: Throws code at the system, trying to see what works.

The Georges Seurat programmer: When you step back from the system, you can see the overall pattern, but close up each piece is totally distinct from all of the others. (Actually, this is a pretty good description of OO design).

The Michalangelo programmer: Has a grand, sweeping view of what the system should do, but each piece is done in such meticulous detail that it takes years to finish anything.

Re:Not a fine art

[ShaniaTwain]

When you have to take functionality into account, it often kills the artistic side of the creation.

That would mean that architecture, furniture design, etc lacks in the artistic side? I dont think this is the case at all - giving something functionality doesnt remove the artistic side, they complement each other and are not mutualy exclusive.

Re:Not a fine art

[Waffle Iron]

Unfortunately, most software on the market seems to have been written by the "Dogs Playing Poker" programmers.

Re:Not a fine art

[Tackhead]

> I think Richard Stallman put it quite nicely:
>
> "I would describe programming as a craft, which is a kind of art, but not a fine art. Craft means making useful objects with perhaps decorative touches. Fine art means making things purely for their beauty."
>
> When you have to take functionality into account, it often kills the artistic side of the creation.

Depends on the code. Depends on the art.

I'd consider every entrant into contests like the IOOOC (or obfuscated-your-language-of-choice), to be art. I'd consider any esoteric computer language (a whole line of 'em including INTERCAL, Brainf*ck, Ook, and so on) to be art for art's sake.

But as for functionality "killing" the artistic side of the equation -- sometimes the most functional things are the most beautiful. Lamborghini, Ferrari, Aston-Martin, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, XB-70 Valkyrie, SR-71 Blackbird, Concorde. Very functional machines, designed to perform very different functions, for very different people. And all very beautiful.

Re:Not a fine art

[squidfood]

Unfortunately, most software on the market seems to have been written by the "Dogs Playing Poker" programmers.

And there's a market for that. Hence, Visual Basic.

Re:Not a fine art

[LaminatorX]

Michelangelo must be the lead programmer for the HURD.

Re:Not a fine art

[lskutt]

I agree, but not completely. Paraphrasing the czech theorist Jan Mukarovsky[1]: art is when the aesthetic function is greater than all other functions.

Therefore, I would conclude that programming per se is not art, but that it very well can be - if intended. Consider the IOCCC. While all competition entries do perform some kind of practical function, the main purpose of each one is to be elegant, beautiful, ingenious etc.; properties which we usually associate with art.[2]

[1] Mukarovsky, Jan, "Aesthetic Function, Norm, and Value as Social Facts.", 1936.
[2] Note to self: I need to learn english grammar and spelling.

Both!

[ssimontis]

I'd say it is mostly science by nature, but you can make it into an art. You can make just about anything into an art with enough creativity. I can see how you might think it could be an art without doing anything special, but I feel it is a lot more technical.

Well...

[Donniedarkness]

Programmers do meet one of the requirements that you have to meet to be considered an artist: They make no money.

It's engineering

[Anonymous Coward]

Same as usual, a bridge can be beautiful to look at, beautiful in how it copes with it's load etc, same as code, it's just people don't like looking at code as engineering for some reason.

Re:It's engineering

[BenJeremy]

Well, to some degree, engineering can be art.

Consider great works of architecture... certainly, the simple task of building a bridge, or some building can result in the most straight-forward, brute-force application of a solution, but the results would not be as elegant or noteworthy.

Similarly, code can be kludged to hell, lacking any elegance and as a result, impossible to enhance or even maintain... or a software engineer could architect a system that is elegant and even mostly reusable (or even better build such a system out of a large library of code already written).

Unfortunately, the difference is lost amongst probably 80% of the "programmers"
out there, who have more of an attitude of "get 'r done" and "if it ain't broke...". We talk about patterns, algorithms, processes to developing solid applications and systems, but end up dealing with managers or clients who couldn't give a rat's ass about it until a quality audit is announced.

I know a handful of very talented engineers who can design "on the fly" - elegant design work, and as a bonus, they know the engineering side, as well. Put the two together, the SCIENCE of applying basic engineering principles, along with the ART of intuitively understanding the best flow of an application, and you've got solid code.

To put it another way, I've seen guys who know the process side of software engineering inside and out - but couldn't code their way out of a paper bag, and certainly cannot architect a real software system. They know the science, but lack the artistry (i.e the creative thinking).

Re:It's engineering

[yoha]

it's the architecture of a bridge that's art. the engineering is science.

Similar: Is an essay art?

[mister_llah]

If a well-composed essay is a form of art... I would have to say an efficient program is certainly a form of art.

You just have to remember the appeal of art of this sort is MUCH smaller... you need to understand it to really enjoy it... and unlike abstract art or modern art (where very few understand it and very many say they do) ... you have very few who understand it... and not a lot of people who care a lick about it.

So, yes, it is an art form... for a very small subset of the population.

My two cents, anyway...

The Perfect Slashdot Story

[DanielMarkham]

Load up the cannons -- here's the perfect slashdot story: programming art or science?
That's like a story that's titled, "Chocolate Ice Cream, better than Vanilla?"
Art is subjective. If you believe that some part of science is subjective as well, then you understand that there is no easy answer to the question posed. If you think science has no subjectivity, then welcome to the food fight!

Quality: It's a Numbers Game

Re:Drivel

[slavemowgli]

If coders *only* do what they must to get the job done, then how do you explain Perl poetry, for example? What about Perl golf?

How about things like quines, or programs that are valid and working programs in more than one language at once?

Aren't these things art? If not, why not? A programming language is, per se, just a tool - just like a brush. You can use brushes to simply coat things with paint, and there are many people who do just that for a living; but you can also use them to create art. The same goes for programming languages, doesn't it?

CS is science. Design is art

[AuMatar]

Computer science- the concepts of bits and bytes and memory addresses is a science. There is a right and wrong answer for pretty much everything. Its researchable and falsifiable.

The design of a computer program is an art. There is no defined standard for what is or is not good design, its not falsifiable. And its not something that can be taught by rote in a college course. Picking the right design for your specifications and requirements is an art, and one that too few people really understand.

Art is as Art does

[ScentCone]

There's just no one big bucket called "programming." To the extent that one's code interacts with, or communicates to a user, there's ample room for an artful implementation. Especially when the code's purpose is, through that interaction, to inform or pursuade. Yes, that's getting into "content" rather that programming, but the line between those is very, very fuzzy, especially in web development.

That being said, I think there's a certain intrinsic beauty to the way that I indent my subroutines.

Re:Drivel

[Tyler Eaves]

What should problem happen is a split.

Have to programs, "Comp Sci", which would remain what is is, and "Programming" which would focus much more on "real world" issues. Think of it kinda like Physics vs Engineering.

What would Mozart have thought?

[blackhedd]

Mozart considered composition a craft. So did Bach, who regularly turned out a new cantata most weeks for his job at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig. The notion that artists have special access to some emotional content not available to ordinary craftsmen is a nineteenth-century idea. But everyone agrees that both Mozart and Bach had access to some pretty unusual stuff- we hear it and respond to it.
The content of programming is perhaps too instrumental (i.e., interesting for its usefulness more than its inherent qualities) to rise to the level of art. But this may be changing with the state-of-the-art games. In a hundred years, people may look back at today's game developers as the inventors of a new art form!

More of a continuum.

[khasim]

With 100% pure functionality (and pure ugly) at one end ... ...
functionality mixed with aesthetics in the middle ...

And at the other end, 100% pure aesthetics with no functionality (apart for the materials used).

Of course, why limit it to one dimension? How about 2 dimensions (a square). In one corner, a bad woodworker who is also a bad artist will make a crappy, ugly chair.

In the opposite corner, you have a very skilled woodworker who is also a very good artist who makes a very beautiful, yet very functional chair.

In the other corners are a bad-woodworker but good good-artist and a good-woodworker but bad-artist.