Comment

From: david

Thank you for saying that.

I've believed for years that "coding is like solving cross-word puzzles" -- great if your employer wants to employ cross-word puzzle solvers, otherwise a waste of time. It's a much older metaphor, (see for example)
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=Wwk_g20HyYkC&pg=PR16&lpg=PR16&ots=TXMOvfdVov&sig=nO_oRYYil16Ume1YyJGzzf40Mpw
but I meant exactly the same thing: templates are what you use when you want to leave something meaningful behind. "Low level code" is what we do for personal entertainment.