The Codeless Code: Case 118 Clay 
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 A general of the Imperial Army had commissioned the Temple
to build a supply requisition system. Mindful of cost, he
sent an officer of the 3rd Unsigned Integer Division to
report on the Temple’s progress.

The officer noted with satisfaction that most of the
developers worked calmly and methodically: they drew up
detailed designs, submitted the documents for approval or
amendment, and consulted the final drafts as they coded.

Yet one of the nuns did not.

As the officer watched, the nun created a dozen classes in
the repository, stared at each for a moment, renamed half of
them, stared again, broke some into pieces, stared, added
some methods and subtracted others, and so on. She repeated
this throughout the day.

The officer could no longer contain his impatience, saying,
“Enough! If the Imperial sculptors were as impulsive as you,
there would be no jade left in the world!”

The nun replied, “If the Imperial sculptors are foolish
enough to carve roof tiles out of jade, the Emperor’s palace
must still be half-open to the sky. Myself, I choose to work
in clay.”