The process of preparing programs for a digital computer
is especially attractive, not only because it can be economically
and scientifically rewarding, but also because it can be an aesthetic
experience much like composing poetry or music.
-- Donald Knuth
The programmer, like the poet, works only slightly removed from pure thought-stuff.
He builds his castles in the air, from air, creating by exertion of the imagination.
Few media of creation are so flexible, so easy to polish and rework,
so readily capable of realizing grand conceptual structures.
-- Frederick Brooks, Jr., The Mythical Man Month