Actually, I think moving a button 3px anywhere could be easily justified by a combination of Fitts' law and research on how humans perceive the button as something actionable and distinct from its surroundings.
That said, I'm a software engineer with a semi-formal training in user experience and moved from front-end design initially through Zeldman/CSS of 2003 to backend and mobile (and more formal CS concepts in university).
Design matters as much as the code you write. Sadly, driving technical change in either is tougher than it looks. And we won't even get into the misinterpretations possible when people assume something can be done pixel-perfect or was misread as pixel perfect when that wasn't the intent. Working together productively is the soft skill worth developing for both sides of the art/science divide.
That said, I'm a software engineer with a semi-formal training in user experience and moved from front-end design initially through Zeldman/CSS of 2003 to backend and mobile (and more formal CS concepts in university).
Design matters as much as the code you write. Sadly, driving technical change in either is tougher than it looks. And we won't even get into the misinterpretations possible when people assume something can be done pixel-perfect or was misread as pixel perfect when that wasn't the intent. Working together productively is the soft skill worth developing for both sides of the art/science divide.