The idea of engineering creativity

In spite of what my wife thinks, writing software is a very creative act. It takes cunning, logic, rational thinking as well as advanced problem solving. On top of that, it also takes a great deal of "Voice." If you have ever heard musicians or writers talk about Voice, you understand they mean a style that is as unique as a finger print. I think the thing that separates coders from developers is that Voice. I have seen code that makes me weep because of its elegance and simplicity. Yet this same code can do enormous work. I have seen code that makes my eyes bleed and my soul scream. This code, though countless in lines, does little more than introduce bug after bug.