Code is poetry

I found the words ‘code is poetry’ in the footer of the new Wordpress frontpage, that has been launched recently. I fully agree that code is poetry! I love to read and write beautiful and concise code.

In a few days I will even be joining CloudCannon on their Youtube show ‘Static Feedback’ to talk about Artisanal Web Development. This is my hand-crafted take on building sites with absolute knowledge about every line of code.

But what about this frontpage? Matt Mullenberg expressed some harsh criticism on its build. It took the volunteers of Wordpress 33 days to build this page. Matt called it a waste of time. And although the page looks quite good, it does not work flawlessly, nor is its code beautiful or concise. This is due to the use of standard components.

I do understand that building a page with standard components is faster and does not require a programmer. I do NOT understand why one would put ‘code is poetry’ in its footer.