Reading Code: In praise of superficial beauty

So, while Marco's problem started with the project's shoddy documentation and API, his actual code criticism focuses on issues that are apparently superficial. He hasn't discovered a substantive bug or architectural weakness in the snippet above. Instead, what matters to him are simple virtues like consistency, style, and readability. Marco is saying, in fact, that the OpenSSL code sucks because it lacks superficial beauty. I couldn't agree with this position more.

Yes, yes, a gazillion times yes. When it comes to code, I've found, appearances are not deceiving: code that looks good generally is good. Well crafted, neatly organized, tastefully named code is the sign of a disciplined mind at work.