I think people are using the word art when they really should be using creativity. Programming is a highly creative skill but not all creative things are art.
Being a programmer is not going to get you there if thats what you need.
I dont really understand the mindset, I think that is because I am an engineer. Meaning by training, schooling, and occupation i did industrial and civil engineering for 10 years. I tend to take the software engineering literally, well more literally than most...
Its kind of the antithesis of being an artist to me. Still beauty in it.
Art and engineering to me are different paths to get to the same place. Art is very free-form, flow-based, and seemingly arbitrary but which contains deeper meaning and structure that often comes out subconsciously (when done well) while working toward a goal. Engineering is a methodical, reliable way to reach a goal. The end results may be the same - program that does something - but how they were reached varies.
as they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder but software development is an engineering discipline and won't be considered as an artistic medium not now not ever.
I can understand the philosophical dimension of software engineering but I am not even interested to entertain even for a second the concept of the art of writing software because it's just insane.
No, despite how much you'd like to be and see it happening, it is not and will not be.