On a separate note: I don't think that what I described above should be referred to as a point on "elegance". Because "elegance" suggests that it's about aest

On a separate note: I don't think that what I described above should be referred to as a point on "elegance". Because "elegance" suggests that it's about aesthetics. And regarding aesthetic considerations it is usually the case that people can reasonably disagree about them, and that there is no objective argument that can be made either way. But the arguments I made above about how a bad codebase quality can wreak serious havoc with a company's/team's ability to execute on their mission is something that goes far beyond a failure in elegance. It's a liability. And when I say "liability" then I don't mean in any abstract sense, but in the sense as any financial accountant would understand the term.