I found the writer's comparison of programming to art a bit offbase. I think I'd compares better with writing. You know ... things like copy writing, elaborate

I found the writer's comparison of programming to art a bit offbase. I think I'd compares better with writing. You know ... things like copy writing, elaborate works of fictio, essays? While the particular thing you're working on (thesis, class essay, fiction, biography) might restrict your ability to be more expressive with your writing. There are some people that can just 'write'. Doesn't matter what they're writing about, you can read their stuff and enjoy it, largely because they keep things simple, don't use big words unnecessarily or deploy obscure grammatical devices, and focus on getting their point across to you. There are also some world reknowned writers who nobody can follow because they use complicated grammar and words (Wole Soyinka for example) ... What I am (clumsily) trying to say is, by making that comparison (of programmers to writers) it becomes clearer that separating good programmers from bad ones might not be as hard as he makes it out to be.