"more or less what art meant"

To which I reply: Did you actually read the essay? Since you started the ad hominem argument, I feel free to continue in that vein.

What is interesting is that most "programming" is exactly "capturing and distilling human experiences using allusions and associations to (re)create those experiences". What else is coding a front-end to an application that saves time and/or labour, and/or makes possible things that were, before the program, impossible? An Art, a Craft or a Science? From your very definition, "Art" would be the answer.

And yet, you begin your criticism with "It's simply nonsense"