To me, elegance is where you have encoded as much information per N characters as I can easily read, plus having used features that strike me as appropriate, especially if I wouldn't have done it that way. A little thinking to comprehend the algorithm is acceptable, so long as I don't have to break out pen and paper to rewrite it. (That is obfu, not elegant. Obfus have their own beauty, but I wouldn't call them elegant.)

Your title implies that elegance and clarity are orthogonal qualities. I would say that clarity is an essential part of elegance. Another integral part of elegance is simplicity. Think about what you would consider elegant in a person. Some items that have classically defined an elegant woman, for example, could be:

• The line and angle of her neck
• The shape of her nose
• The way she moves

Elegance is about understated simplicity. So, to me, your first snippet isn't elegant. It's short, but I have to break out pen and paper to understand it. However, I would consider your second snippet elegant. It is also short, but it discusses one concept and does it in a simple fashion.

Your csv_split() ... It has elegant parts. Let me explain ...

sub csv_split    {

    # This is very elegant. It handles one concept and does so in a si
+mple and
    # clear fashion.
    # Two bugs:
    #    1) use "return;", not "return undef;". The latter creates a o
+ne element
    #       list in list context.
    #    2) I would use "shift // return;" (if you have the patch). Ot
+herwise,
    #       your function won't handle "0.0" correctly. If you don't h
+ave the
    #       patch, I would do a defined-check.
    local $_ = shift || return undef;

    my @array = ();

    # This is not elegant - it's cute and clever. You're using 0 in bo
+th its
    # numeric and boolean aspects. Now, you may not have a choice in t
+he matter,
    # as Perl may not give you the tools to be elegant. (It might ...)
    my $count = my $quoted = 0;

    # The while definition is elegant - simple, understated, but clear
+. But, the
    # use of $1 throughout the loop is definitely not elegant. It's ki
+nda ugly.
    # Again, I'm not sure Perl gives you the tools to do the elegant t
+hing here.
    while ( s/(.)// )    {
        if ($1 eq ',' && !$quoted) { $count++; next; }

        # The use of q// here is more elegante than '"', but it might 
+have been
        # better to provide a variable that hides the ugliness.
        if ($1 eq q/"/)    {

            # The "$x = 1 - $x" idiom is very elegant. I've always lik
+ed it.
            unless ( $quoted && s/^\"// ) { $quoted = 1 - $quoted; nex
+t; }
        }
        $array[$count] .= $1;
    }

    # Elegance might demand a wantarray solution here. It's unclear.
    @array;
}
[download]

My version (with a bit more of what I consider elegant) would be (untested):

sub csv_split {
    local $_ = shift // return;

    my $is_quoted;
    my $count = my @array;
    while ( s/(.)// ) {
        if ($1 eq ',' and not $is_quoted) {
            $count++;
        } elsif ($1 eq q/"/ and not ( $is_quoted and s/^\"// )) {
            $is_quoted = !$is_quoted;
        } else {
            $array[$count] .= $1;
        }
    }
    return if $is_quoted;

    wantarray ? @array : \@array;
}
[download]

I believe my version also better delineates the flow control.

Update: Added tilly's toggle. I was trying to think of it, but couldn't, so left the x=1-x flip. The toggle is definitely more elegant.

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