Software Engineering Quotes - Page 2

• Should array indices start at 0 or 1? My compromise of 0.5 was rejected without, I thought, proper consideration.

  Stan Kelly-Bootle

  Funny Inspirational, Technology, Compromise

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• The job of the average manager requires a shift in focus every few minutes. The job of the average software developer requires that the developer not shift focus more often than every few hours.

  Steve McConnell

  Teamwork, Jobs, Average

  Steve McConnell (1997). “Software Project Survival Guide”, p.45, Microsoft Press

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• Avoiding complexity reduces bugs.

  Linus Torvalds

  Simplicity, Bugs, Programming

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• The best performance improvement is the transition from the nonworking state to the working state.

  John Ousterhout

  Inspirational, Transition, Improvement

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• I find that writing unit tests actually increases my programming speed

  Martin Fowler

  Writing, Tests, Bugs

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• Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes.

  Edsger Dijkstra

  Science, Technology, Telescopes

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• Einstein repeatedly argued that there must be simplified explanations of nature, because God is not capricious or arbitrary. No such faith comforts the software engineer.

  Fred Brooks

  Comfort, Arbitrary, Amusing

  "No Silver Bullet". Book by Fred Brooks, 1986.

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• Increasingly, people seem to misinterpret complexity as sophistication, which is baffling -- the incomprehensible should cause suspicion rather than admiration.

  Niklaus Wirth

  People, Causes, Admiration

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• Software Engineering is that part of Computer Science which is too difficult for the Computer Scientist.

  Friedrich L. Bauer

  Engineering, Computer, Scientist

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• Software is like sex: It's better when it's free.

  Linus Torvalds

  Sex, Technology, Linux

  Attributed to Torvalds at 1996 FSF conference,

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• It's OK to figure out murder mysteries, but you shouldn't need to figure out code. You should be able to read it.

  Steve McConnell

  Murder Mysteries, Needs, Able

  Steve McConnell (2004). “Code Complete”, p.267, Pearson Education

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• Software gets slower faster than hardware gets faster.

  Niklaus Wirth

  Programming, Faster, Software

  "Excel HSC Softw Design&Devel + Cards SG". Book by Geoff Lancaster, 2001.

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• That's the thing about people who think they hate computers. What they really hate is lousy programmers.

  Larry Niven

  Hate, Technology, Thinking

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• Considering the current sad state of our computer programs, software development is clearly still a black art, and cannot yet be called an engineering discipline.

  William J. Clinton

  Art, Technology, Engineering

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• Experience doesn't necessarily teach anything.

  Gerald Weinberg

  Programming, Teach, Software

  Gerald M. Weinberg (1998). “The Psychology of Computer Programming”, Dorset House

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• If you can't test it, don't build it. If you don't test it, rip it out.

  Boris Beizer

  Rip, Tests, Bugs

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• Bugs lurk in corners and congregate at boundaries.

  Boris Beizer

  Bugs, Boundaries, Programming

  Boris Beizer (1990). “Software Testing Techniques”, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company

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• A dynamic duo who work well together can be worth any three people working in isolation.

  Larry Constantine

  Teamwork, People, Together

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• An API that isn't comprehensible isn't usable.

  James Gosling

  Code Quality, Programming, Quality

  "A Conversation with James Gosling". Interview with Bill Venners, www.artima.com. Jun 9, 2003.

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• Copy and paste is a design error.

  David Parnas

  Funny Inspirational, Errors, Design

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• An organisation that treats its programmers as morons will soon have programmers that are willing and able to act like morons only.

  Bjarne Stroustrup

  Organization, Able, Treats

  "The C++ Programming Language". Book by Bjarne Stroustrup, October 1985.

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• Programs should be written and polished until they acquire publication quality.

  Niklaus Wirth

  Code Quality, Program, Should

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• Time pressure gradually corrupts an engineer's standard of quality and perfection. It has a detrimental effect on people as well as products

  Niklaus Wirth

  Code Quality, People, Perfection

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• Good visual layout shows the logical structure of a program.

  Steve McConnell

  Code Quality, Logical, Program

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• The hardest part of the software task is arriving at a complete and consistent specification, and much of the essence of building a program is in fact the debugging of the specification.

  Fred Brooks

  Learning, Essence, Arriving

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