His thesis seems to be that Graham isn't an expert on art history. I can't evaluate that. I know less about painting than either of them do.
How far one believes the metaphor goes is questionable. Visual art and software development have different goals and rules, but they use certain aesthetic skills that are common. That said, I think Graham is injecting some degree of personal bias. If his passion had been for music, he might have written "Hackers and Composers". Then again, I really don't know. I don't know how far-- beyond the principle (often overlooked in software) that source code is for humans and must be attractive enough to be comprehensible-- the analogy goes because I don't know enough about painting.
That essayist seems to be viewing software as a product, where source code need not be "appealing" to clients and is not read often enough to justify making it legible and attractive. That's not the world modern software lives in. Aesthetics matter.
If his passion had been for music, he might have written "Hackers and Composers". Then again, I really don't know.
Why not? As someone who has dabbled in composing music and been a musician most of my life, in different types of groups, it strikes me that many a time creating software is much like composing. There are often grand overarching themes, and all the parts must fit together just right or it's not going to feel right. You write the score in advance, then the orchestra "executes" it. Making your sheet music legible, with a keen eye to what's possible on different instruments and using the correct key instead of shoving in accidentals all over the place ("readability") can make a whole lot of difference.
The essayist is simply pointing out that the whole "hackers and painters" nonsense is just that, nonsense. There's absolutely nothing "paintery" about pg's programming, or anyone else's.
How far one believes the metaphor goes is questionable. Visual art and software development have different goals and rules, but they use certain aesthetic skills that are common. That said, I think Graham is injecting some degree of personal bias. If his passion had been for music, he might have written "Hackers and Composers". Then again, I really don't know. I don't know how far-- beyond the principle (often overlooked in software) that source code is for humans and must be attractive enough to be comprehensible-- the analogy goes because I don't know enough about painting.
That essayist seems to be viewing software as a product, where source code need not be "appealing" to clients and is not read often enough to justify making it legible and attractive. That's not the world modern software lives in. Aesthetics matter.