I find his time-based argument compelling. While the SO code is likely not the simplest possible code, it is likely that it is within an order of magnitude. M

I find his time-based argument compelling. While the SO code is likely not the simplest possible code, it is likely that it is within an order of magnitude. Moreover, coming up with the simplest possible code is hard work and would take longer than coming up with the original code, even if it would be a bit faster when typing it in. If it was not harder to write simpler code, people would write simple code to begin with.