So one thing I think that gets lost is, to me, the most important quality in code is: how easy is it to debug. Like, I remember once having to maintain this guy's code where he just went crazy on C++ templates. And like, he proved that he's very smart and clever, but it made his code practically unusable since nobody could figure it out, and trying to debug a template masterpiece is like the hardest thing in c++ codi…
This has been going on for over a thousand years. Read Ptolemy's book from the 2nd century to describe the solar system. It used hundreds of "epicycles" to make everything line up. Then Newton comes up with three tiny equations that describe the solar system's motion even better in the 18th century.
As they say, "anyone can design a complicated system", but if you're really smart, you can make a simple system. It's no different in programming.