A couple weeks ago I asked people to post a comment to this blog telling me what they considered to be beautiful code—if anything—or to offer any other thoughts on the subject. I said that I would pick one winner from among those who commented, in a totally arbitrary fashion, to receive a free copy of the book, Beautiful Code.

The contest is closed now. The comments people posted were all so good (find them here and here) that I find myself having trouble selecting a winner, especially in a totally arbitrary fashion. Just this once—and really, only just this once (not ever again) —I’ve decided to give up and declare everyone who posted a winner of this book. Thanks, everyone, for adding your thoughts to this conversation.

And, the conversation doesn’t have to end. Beautiful Code has its own site “Where leading programmers explain how they find unusual and carefully designed solutions.” You can follow insightful posts by Michael Feathers, Andy Oram, and other contributors to the book, and continue the conversation.