More to do with a sense for quality. Often developed through experience
(but not just that). I think what we need is a guild system for
programmers/engineers. Being an apprentice of a master craftsman is
essential for learning this "good taste" as you call it.

I guess I'm not so totally against guilds per se.  Since I believe that programming (at least is a profession) is a service industry, I think that doesn't come naturally to a lot of otherwise bright people (including, I might add, me).  Back when I was writing FORTRAN, I was working for a guy with very high standards who read my code and got me to comment or, more usually, rewrite all the obscure things I did.  He made the point that a good program never dies, and many people will read it and modify it and try to understand it, and it's almost a professional duty to make sure that you make this as easy as possible for them.  

Maybe a guild is a bit too stuffy, but being mentored by someone with their head screwed on straight, and consequently making a point to seek out excellent examples of the programming art and learn from them had a profound effect on my skill as a programmer and my career.

I don't think I would have found this in a book or long midnight hours hacking away...

Steve