Yes, but in a more holistic way than we normally use the word. Good programmers will minimize the time they spend over the lifetime of a project. This is why y

Yes, but in a more holistic way than we normally use the word. Good programmers will minimize the time they spend over the lifetime of a project. This is why you don't optimize prematurely, to avoid wasting time when you already have a solution that is good enough. However, the same programmer will then be diligent about writing modular, easy-to-read code, so that editing and refactoring will be as simple as possible. Relevant - http://paulgraham.com/goodart.html http://paulgraham.com/goodart.html