The poetry of code and the code of poetry

07.20    


(Image: Tor Lindqvist/Getty)


IN 1975, Austrian-born physicist Fritjof Capra published an unlikely bestseller that explored the parallels between ideas in particle physics and Eastern mysticism. The Tao of Physics became a cult classic, selling over a million copies globally. Despite positive reviews, the book left many readers ultimately unsatisfied and unconvinced.


In Geek Sublime, Vikram Chandra draws similar parallels between the process of writing computer code and some of the Indian philosophical systems that have profoundly influenced art, literature and poetry in the subcontinent, but which remain largely unknown in the West.


The book is broad and idiosyncratically engaging. It ranges from the intricacies of machine code and the history of logic, to an ancient Indian theorist of poetry, Anandavardhana, and the remarkable algorithmic rules of the Ashtadhyayi – a Sanskrit text about grammar and syntax dating from about 500 BC.


The parallels between the Ashtadhyayi and programming today are remarkable and worth exploring. But Chandra's frequent self-indulgent forays into his own writing process are less engaging. His comparisons are fascinating, but his fundamental thesis – that computer code shares the same aesthetic qualities as Sanskrit poetry and literature – is ultimately unconvincing.


So can code be elegant? Yes. Chandra describes "event sourcing", a process that stores changes to an application as a sequence of events, allowing earlier states to be reconstructed. For many coders, this is a hugely elegant solution to the problem of knowing what went on in the past.


And can code be beautiful? Perhaps. But poetic?


Geek Sublime may garner a cult following, as Tao did 40 years ago, perhaps among the increasingly influential cultural group of Indian programmers. But, while it may inspire, Geek Sublime will frustrate in equal measure.


This article appeared in print under the headline "Looking for the code of poetry"


Justin Mullins is a consultant for New Scientist


Issue 2957 of New Scientist magazine


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