Debugging does not teach a person to write beautiful code. Debugging teaches a person to fix O-BOBs (off by one bit bug) and silly mistakes. Writing beautiful code takes experience and knowledge of concepts. If the concept is inherently incorrect the whole process is flawed and by definition no amount of debugging will fix the problem and could possibly make the problem worse. The idea is that if the writer always improves they should be seeing their concepts much more clearly and the code should almost flawlessly flow from the fingertips with ease. To say that the writer's code never improves means that they should always be happy with themselves. I look back at my code 2 months ago and it's garbage. I am never happy with any of my code. I always say that it can be improved because it is artwork in the truest sense. Generally, you really are only playing chess against yourself and no one else. Someone else that comes along will not be looking at your code because they will be using a different or more modern chip and they will want to change the hardware for themselves. I would not want to use a chip circa '95 and I would not want to use that code as the code would be a waste of time because the knowledge and concepts would be outdated. There are newer concepts that are available with modern hardware which gives higher end technology. In essence, some code might be portable, but a new writer should not waste their time scavenging for it, and an old writer should re-write it to improve the art.