creeping elegance

from Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)

creeping elegance
 n.

   Describes a tendency for parts of a design to become {elegant} past
   the point of diminishing return, something which often happens at the
   expense of the less interesting parts of the design, the schedule, and
   other things deemed important in the {Real World}. See also {creeping
   featurism}, {second-system effect}, {tense}.

from The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)

creeping elegance

   Describes a tendency for parts of a design to become {elegant}
   past the point of diminishing return, something which often
   happens at the expense of the less interesting parts of the
   design, the schedule, and other things deemed important in the
   {Real World}.  See also {creeping featurism}, {second-system
   effect}, {tense}.

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