Beautiful Software

Here is a good article that compares construction work to building software systems. Though it's quite an old article written by Charles Connell, is very much relevant to our times

The key points are

• Don't let customers compromise on the quality of the software
• Write small, simple, readable code (even for the complex issues)
• Strive to provide only the necessary functionality (bang for the buck for both users and developers)
  
• Ensure that software works in a co-operative manner (with others resources of the system)
• Ensure that external functionality of a software can easily be mapped to the code (reduces maintenance or enhancement costs)