I agree that dictionaries do give a good starting point, but often they miss the main idea of abstract ideas, such as the purely subjective word "art." Webster's Universal College Dictionary defines art as "the... production...of what is...of more than ordinary significance" as well as a "skilled workmanship" or "studied action." The Advanced Thorndike Barnhart Dictionary calls art "any form of human activity that is the product of and appeals primarily to the imagination." The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language online qualifies art as "the conscious production or arrangement of...elements in a manner that affects the sense of beauty..." These, when combined, give the idea that a piece of art must come from the intelligent, intentional, and imaginative thought processes of a human being. No program comes into being without calculated, clever, and creative thinking on behalf of the programmer.
100 programmers asked to write code to perform an identical task will write 100 uniquely separate programs (with the possible exception of simplistic ones like "Hello, world!") The programs will vary in specific language used, terseness, length and attitude of comments or their presence at all, form, and even the specific commands used when programmers have many options. Perl's slogan reflects this. TMTOWDTI. (There's More Than One Way To Do It.) When left entirely to onself, even the kind of program one writes shows the nature of that person. A program reflects a programmer's individuality.
Programmers, like authors or composers, feel pride of accomplishment in the completion of their work. Novels, symphonies, and programs exist on the same plain. The program is the programmer's opus.
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I agree that dictionaries do give a good starting point, but often they miss the main idea of abstract ideas, such as the purely subjective word "art." Webster's Universal College Dictionary defines art as "the... production...of what is...of more than ordinary significance" as well as a "skilled workmanship" or "studied action." The Advanced Thorndike Barnhart Dictionary calls art "any form of human activity that is the product of and appeals primarily to the imagination." The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language online qualifies art as "the conscious production or arrangement of...elements in a manner that affects the sense of beauty..." These, when combined, give the idea that a piece of art must come from the intelligent, intentional, and imaginative thought processes of a human being. No program comes into being without calculated, clever, and creative thinking on behalf of the programmer.
100 programmers asked to write code to perform an identical task will write 100 uniquely separate programs (with the possible exception of simplistic ones like "Hello, world!") The programs will vary in specific language used, terseness, length and attitude of comments or their presence at all, form, and even the specific commands used when programmers have many options. Perl's slogan reflects this. TMTOWDTI. (There's More Than One Way To Do It.) When left entirely to onself, even the kind of program one writes shows the nature of that person. A program reflects a programmer's individuality.
Programmers, like authors or composers, feel pride of accomplishment in the completion of their work. Novels, symphonies, and programs exist on the same plain. The program is the programmer's opus.