That would make sense if code was written solely for the enjoyment of its readers, but it isn't.

Code uses text, sometimes even natural-language prose, but isn't like "books and writing". It has to communicate knowledge, not feels. It also ultimately have to be precise enough to give unambiguous instructions to a machine.

In this sense, code is like mathematical proofs and like architectural blueprints, which is a different category to drawings, paintings and literature. One is about shared, objective, precise understanding of a problem. The other is about sharing subjective, emotional experiences; having the audience understand the work, much less everyone understand it the same way, is not required, usually not possible, and often undesirable.