Programming Languages Quotes - Page 9

• There are two ways to write error-free programs; only the third one works.

  Alan Perlis

  Writing, Errors, Two

  "Epigrams on Programming". ACM "SIGPLAN" Notices 17 (9), (pp. 7-13), September 1982.

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• Beauty is more important in computing than anywhere else in technology because software is so complicated. Beauty is the ultimate defense against complexity.

  David Gelernter

  Technology, Simplicity, Important

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• We should forget about small efficiencies, say about 97% of the time: premature optimization is the root of all evil.

  Donald Knuth

  Learning, Roots, Evil

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• A language that doesn't affect the way you think about programming is not worth knowing.

  Alan Perlis

  Learning, Thinking, Knowing

  "Epigrams on Programming". ACM SIGPLAN Notices 17 (9), pp. 7-13, pu.inf.uni-tuebingen.de. September 1982.

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• Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex... It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.

  E. F. Schumacher

  Inspirational, Motivational, Courage

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• Besides a mathematical inclination, an exceptionally good mastery of one's native tongue is the most vital asset of a competent programmer.

  Edsger Dijkstra

  Learning, Mastery, Tongue

  Edsger W. Dijkstra (2012). “Selected Writings on Computing: A personal Perspective”, p.130, Springer Science & Business Media

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• Hofstadter's Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law

  Douglas Hofstadter

  Law, Research, Favourite

  Godel, Escher, Bach ch. 5 (1979)

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• Computer Science is the only discipline in which we view adding a new wing to a building as being maintenance.

  Jim Horning

  Learning, Views, Wings

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• The C language combines all the power of assembly language with all the ease-of-use of assembly language.

  Mark Pearce

  Use, Ease, Language

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• JavaScript is the world's most misunderstood programming language.

  Douglas Crockford

  Misunderstood, World, Javascript

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• The precision provided (or enforced) by programming languages and their execution can identify lacunas, ambiguities, and other areas of potential confusion in conventional [mathematical] notation.

  Kenneth E. Iverson

  Confusion, Execution, Language

  "Math for the Layman" by Kenneth E. Iverson, Ch. 10, §D, www.cs.trinity.edu. 1999.

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• Most programming languages are decidedly inferior to mathematical notation and are little used as tools of thought in ways that would be considered significant by, say, an applied mathematician.

  Kenneth E. Iverson

  Would Be, Tools, Littles

  "Notation as a Tool of Thought". Cvommunications of the ACM, 23 (8), (pp. 444 - 465), August 1980.

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• Overemphasis of efficiency leads to an unfortunate circularity in design: for reasons of efficiency early programming languages reflected the characteristics of the early computers, and each generation of computers reflects the needs of the programming languages of the preceding generation.

  Kenneth E. Iverson

  Design, Needs, Generations

  "Notation as a Tool of Thought". Cvommunications of the ACM, 23 (8), (pp. 444 - 465), August 1980.

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• What I was proud of was that I used very few parts to build a computer that could actually speak words on a screen and type words on a keyboard and run a programming language that could play games. And I did all this myself.

  Steve Wozniak

  Running, Games, Play

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• The most powerful programming language is Lisp. If you don't know Lisp (or its variant, Scheme), you don't appreciate what a powerful language is. Once you learn Lisp you will see what is missing in most other languages.

  Richard Stallman

  Trust, Powerful, Appreciate

  "How I Do My Computing". Personal Website, www.stallman.org.

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• It's kind of pathetic actually that we are all sitting here talking about Forth. It is not the wave of the future. It's never been the wave of the future. It's not within our power to make it the wave of the future.

  Charles H. Moore

  Talking, Sitting, Language

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• More good code has been written in languages denounced as "bad'' than in languages proclaimed "wonderful'' - much more.

  Bjarne Stroustrup

  Simplicity, Language, Wonderful

  Bjarne Stroustrup (1994). “The Design and Evolution of C++”, Addison-Wesley Professional

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• As we said in the preface to the first edition, C "wears well as one's experience with it grows." With a decade more experience, we still feel that way.

  Brian Kernighan

  Way, Firsts, Language

  Brian W. Kernighan, Dennis Ritchie (1988). “C Programming Language”, p.13, Prentice Hall

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• Perl is another example of filling a tiny, short-term need, and then being a real problem in the longer term.

  Alan Kay

  Real, Example, Needs

  "Big talk with the creator of Smalltalk - and much more". Interview with Stuart Feldman, queue.acm.org. December 27, 2004.

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• My impression was and is that many programming languages and tools represent solutions looking for problems, and I was determined that my work should not fall into that category. Thus, I follow the literature on programming languages and the debates about programming languages primarily looking for ideas for solutions to problems my colleagues and I have encountered in real applications. Other programming languages constitute a mountain of ideas and inspiration-but it has to be mined carefully to avoid featurism and inconsistencies.

  Bjarne Stroustrup

  Real, Fall, Inspiration

  Bjarne Stroustrup (1994). “The Design and Evolution of C++”, Addison-Wesley Professional

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• We often treat children as if they're not very competent to do anything on their own. So we make them stop learning in a natural way - by exploring. Logo [the computer programming language ] allows them to find their way around the computer, as they would find their way around the house, uncontaminated by the bureaucracies of schools.

  Seymour Papert

  Children, School, House

  "Sunday Interview - Seymour Papert/ Computers in the Lives of Our Children/ an Mit Mathematician and Philosopher Is Exploring How Technology Can Educate the Next Generation - and Their Parents". www.sfgate.com. February 2, 1997.

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• C++ tries to guard against Murphy, not Machiavelli.

  Damian Conway

  Trying, Language, Programming

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• I have a pretty major problem with a language where one of the most common variables has the name $_

  Brian H. Hook

  Names, Variables, Common

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• The camel has evolved to be relatively self-sufficient. On the other hand, the camel has not evolved to smell good. Neither has Perl.

  Larry Wall

  Self, Hands, Smell

  Larry Wall, Tom Christiansen, Jon Orwant (2004). “Programming Perl: 3rd Edition”, p.4, "O'Reilly Media, Inc."

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• For his major contributions to the analysis of algorithms and the design of programming languages, and in particular for his contributions to the "art of computer programming" through his well-known books in a continuous series by this title.

  Donald Knuth

  Art, Book, Design

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