We investigate the cause of compositional ordering in fcc Ni0.50Pt0.50 on the basis of a first-principles theory of electronic structure and finite-temperature concentration fluctuations. We treat the size effect, electronegativity, and band filling on an equal footing and find that the first of these dominates, leading to L10 ordering in agreement with experiment. An electronic origin is given for the metallurgical ‘‘rule of thumb’’ that alloys comprised of big atoms and little atoms tend to order into simple stuctures.