Maintainability is just the inverse of the expected cost to make a future change. Future changes matter, so maintainability matters. It is, however, true that

Maintainability is just the inverse of the expected cost to make a future change. Future changes matter, so maintainability matters. It is, however, true that we don't yet know how to achieve maintainability in the age of LLMs, and whether it keeps being synonymous with aesthetics and code quality as time goes on.