:elegant: [from mathematical usage] adj. Combining simplicity,
power, and a certain ineffable grace of design. Higher praise than
`clever', `winning', or even {cuspy}.
The French aviator, adventurer, and author Antoine de
Saint-Exup'ery, probably best known for his classic children's
book "The Little Prince", was also an aircraft designer. He
gave us perhaps the best definition of engineering elegance when he
said "A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there
is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take
away."
-- The AI Hackers Dictionary
econd-system effect: n. (sometimes, more euphoniously
`second-system syndrome') When one is designing the successor to
a relatively small, elegant, and successful system, there is a
tendency to become grandiose in one's success and design an
{elephantine} feature-laden monstrosity....
