Context dropping generalization..... Not all code is created equal. Some code is intellectual property. It can be the key asset for some.

Every product or feature is a liability the question is whether the benefit of the growth from doing the work, lessons learned, value to the customer and value to the company can service the liability.

good

Code and functionality are inseparable!

As simple as possible, but no simpler. -someone famous I think

Code is not the end result. Code is part of a system. Systems can never be simple if they are to be optimized. Code can not be simple if it is part of a system. Stand-alone code maybe. But distributed systems that have architecture will never be simple.

Barz

Code complexity is something very hard and counterintuitive to define. At first you may think that simple code is something easy to understand and create by junior inexperienced developer, but in reality you need to learn a lot to create and understand simple code.

What you are saying is that The most Efficient Coding Engine is Desired, and you can do add ons too it. Like John Carmacks Engine, in an Abstract.

Software engineering is overrated.