Programming as Art Debate

Why is art reduced to craft in this modern age? Really, for any programmer to assume they are being artistic just because their code is 'nice' is absolutely absurd, and it's horrifying to think it happens. To be an Artist now is to be a social/cultural/literary critic. There cannot be art in programming, no matter how creative one thinks they code. Please stop it!

could writing code be considered as an art? genuinely asking

Can you elaborate a little on why you think programming is "completely artless"? I hear many coders making comparisons of their work with art, so this kind of contradicts my intuition.

I’m a software developer by trade but also program art creation tools as a hobby. Funny thing is, at work, code is definitely a means to an end. But when I’m doing it for an art project, I think of the code as part of the art :) the process of programming and coming up with the code is ultimately a part of the holistic artistic output. The two are not separate, just as the artists paint and brushes are also a part of the final work of a painting.

Programming is much more of a craft than it is either an art or a science. Good craftsmanship combines beauty with utility, as does good coding.Programmers work with abstractions, rather than with wood or clay. And their craft is as cerebral and intellectually demanding as an art or a science. But it's still a craft.

It's interesting how most don't consider programmers artists, even though coding requires quite a bit of creativity.

As one programmer to another -- you may want to rethink your point of view. "Art" is as much about craft as anything else.

To me programming is more of an art than a science. To find a corollary what are some bad artistic mediums? What is a bad human language to write poetry in, or a novel?

Here's my take:Art starts where (prior) science/utility/craft/trade stops giving you answers.Take an abstract painting. The only functional requirements are that it covers a canvas which you can hang on a wall, and that it will interest viewers. Beyond those things there are really no 'answers' or 'directions,' so the 'artistic territory' begins immediately. If you've ever tried to make an abstract painting, you'll know that even when you don't know what the hell you're painting, you still

I think there is a fundamental difference between the creative acts of programming and producing artwork. The programmer has a requirement of what the program or piece of it should do, and the creative problem, is how to do express this in code. The problem with reading code, is that the original problem is not present in the code, and the purpose of the code is not to express something to a human viewer, but mainly for a machine to execute. In that way the creativity is a lot more like the math