Define "elegant code"

I know a guy who was rejected from a job application for "not having elegant enough code."

I think this is a weak stance because "code elegance" is literally a subjective thing. In my opinion, even if that was the case for this particular hiring authority, a more specific/concrete example should have been provided due to the subjectivity of the word. That said, describe what your version of elegance is and also explain why it is important (or not) to you.

According to Merriam-Webster the word elegance means "a refined grace or dignified property," "tasteful richness of design" etc...

Basically, the word is associated with fluff and its definitions imply superfluous. My question is, why does this word get thrown into code so much and what is your stance of what elegant code even really means? To me, it's like the word "hacker" and means nearly nothing due to its infinite subjective possibility of meanings. Maybe I'm wrong and every single person here will view it as the exact same thing, and I'll eat my words :D

It seems some people associate the word with "clean code" but that's not what the definition of the word implies. Do you associate elegant code with a "clever way to do things?" If I had to put a definition on it personally, I would probably liken the word with "clever."

It's definitely subjective but I think that readability and conciseness are commonly held as the defining factors of elegant code. If a new dev cannot go in and understand how the code functions AND efficiently make changes to implement updates, its definitely not elegant code. Just my thoughts as a student of the code

I came here to write something along these lines.

@alexharrison it sounds like it actually is a synonym for "clean code" or "readable code." Personally, I think I would choose those other terms as you described because they're more down to earth. The problem is, by calling my friend's code "not elegant" it makes the person kinda sound like a jerk because it makes it sound like they are expecting too much, when in reality, maybe my friend needs some tips on his code. Whereas, saying "You know, your code is messy/sloppy/not concise/needs to be refactored/isn't very readable to others" I feel like the advice is more... "actionable?"

elegance is very subjective I read a letter conversation between friedrich schiller and sigmund freud about aesthetics and how one might pinpoint/define them and they wrote a lot about how to defined it in the end it was not a clear solution more of a rough estimation to get close to it .....

personally I think there are different types of elegance -> functional elegance, syntactic elegance, structural elegance they could be all together but 90% of the time the community talks about the superficial parts -> structure and syntax.

since elegance is very much based on context so an elegant solution for a web-app can be a crude solution for a desktop-app.

Tough question ... even if the code is elegant in structure (classic clean code approach) is it elegant in function ? a mathematical equation which can be elegant in functional semantics, can be ugly in imperative syntax ...

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j I'll tell my friend to ask which category of elegance next time :P Seriously though, glad to not be alone in feeling this way. I'm too much of a logical thinker at this point... In my head I'm like "What does elegance really mean what was wrong with the code? Give details" haha.

Todd yes because than he would have to specify what he actually means and how / why it's elegant or not. I've started to say "I don't understand please explain exactly what you mean" it has two possible outcomes ;D ... 1. they explain it and I learn / understand what they mean. 2. they stop saying such things because it pisses them of they have to explain everything ;D ....

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Define "elegant code"

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