The aesthetics of software code: A quantitative exploration.

While research linking science and aesthetics continues to proliferate, in technical domains like software development, quantitative investigations of aesthetics are virtually nonexistent. As an initial exploration, we administered an online survey to 12 experts and 38 novices in programming, assessing the frequency, nature, time course, and judgment criteria of their aesthetic experience with software code. Both groups reported having aesthetic experiences with code, though somewhat less frequently and intensely than with other creative artifacts. Overall, judgments of “ugly” code were reported to be faster than those of “beautiful” code, which in turn were faster than those of “correct” code. Aesthetic considerations of code were generally rated as quite important, though not as important as functionality. Finally, aesthetic judgment criteria were highly correlated among experts and novices. Results suggest a quantitative approach to aesthetics in software code is a promising direction, with trans-domain implications for aesthetics and creativity.

[1]  S. Cajal.  Recollections of my life , 1989 .

[2]  S Lammers,et al.  Programmers at Work: Interviews with 19 of Today's Most Brilliant Programmers , 1986 .

[3]  Hilde Hein,et al.  On Aesthetics in Science , 1980 .

[4]  S. Chandrasekhar.  Truth and Beauty: Aesthetics and Motivations in Science , 1987 .

[5]  W. Heisenberg,et al.  Across the Frontiers. , 1965, British medical journal.

[6]  Andy Oram,et al.  Beautiful code , 2007 .

[7]  Eric S. Raymond,et al.  The Art of Unix Programming , 2003 .

[8]  Alfred I. Tauber,et al.  The elusive synthesis : aesthetics and science , 1996 .

[9]  Tom DeMarco,et al.  Software Creativity 2.0 , 2006 .

[10]  Richard P. Gabriel,et al.  Patterns of Software: Tales from the Software Community , 1996 .

[11]  Gregory J. Feist.  A Meta-Analysis of Personality in Scientific and Artistic Creativity , 1998, Personality and social psychology review : an official journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

[12]  D. Perkins.  The Mind's Best Work , 1981 .

[13]  J. Levinson,et al.  The Oxford handbook of aesthetics , 2005 .

[14]  Aaron Kozbelt.  Originality and Technical Skill as Components of Artistic Quality , 2004 .

[15]  Paul Hekkert,et al.  Beauty in the eye of expert and nonexpert beholders : A study in the appraisal of art , 1996 .

[16]  Robert L. Glass,et al.  Software Creativity , 1995 .

[17]  Paul J. Silvia,et al.  Anger, disgust, and the negative aesthetic emotions: Expanding an appraisal model of aesthetic experience. , 2007 .

[18]  H. Leder,et al.  A model of aesthetic appreciation and aesthetic judgments. , 2004, British journal of psychology.

[19]  R. Weisberg.  Creativity: Understanding Innovation in Problem Solving, Science, Invention, and the Arts , 2006 .

[20]  H. Simon,et al.  Perception in chess , 1973 .

[21]  Judith Wechsler,et al.  On Aesthetics in Science , 1980 .

[22]  J. McAllister.  Beauty and Revolution in Science , 1996 .

[23]  D. Simonton.  Creativity in Science: Chance, Logic, Genius, and Zeitgeist , 2004 .

[24]  M. Runco.  Creativity: Theories and Themes: Research, Development, and Practice , 2006 .

[25]  Rudolf Arnheim,et al.  The Power Of The Center , 1982 .

[26]  C. P. Snow.  TWO CULTURES , 2006, Science.

[27]  Deane W. Curtin.  The Aesthetic Dimension of Science 1980 Nobel Conference , 1982 .

[28]  Mark Johnson.  The meaning of the body : aesthetics of human understanding , 2007 .

[29]  Neil A. M. Maiden,et al.  Provoking Creativity: Imagine What Your Requirements Could Be Like , 2004, IEEE Softw..

[30]  Gregory J. Feist.  The Psychology of Science and the Origins of the Scientific Mind , 2006 .

[31]  Brian W. Kernighan,et al.  Elements of Programming Style , 1974 .

[32]  S. Chandrasekhar.  Beauty and the quest for beauty in science , 1979 .