Suddenly everyone is talking about “taste.” As AI makes writing code dramatically cheaper, more and more people argue that an engineer’s real value is shifting from writing code to exercising good judgment. “Taste” has become one of the most talked-about ideas in software engineering, but what does it actually mean? I don’t claim to have the answer. Instead, let’s explore the question together by examining some of the most influential engineering decisions in software history, from Git and Unix to SQLite, Go, and beyond. We’ll look for recurring patterns, challenge our assumptions, and discuss why this conversation has become so relevant in the age of AI. Hopefully, we’ll all leave with a richer vocabulary for thinking about engineering judgment, and maybe even a few ideas for developing it ourselves.
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