For Programmers

Quotations about Computers, Programming, Programmers, and Engineering.

1. There are 10 types of people: those who understand binary and those who don't.

   Unsourced 41.

2. To be, or not to be.
   Those are the parameters.

   Unsourced 42.

3. User Error.
   Replace user, and press any key to continue.

   Unsourced 43.

4. Virus check complete.
   All viruses functioning normally.

   Unsourced 44.

5. Welcome to Hell.
   Here's your copy of Windows ME.

   Unsourced 45.

6. Why doesn't DOS ever say “Excellent command or file name”?

   Unsourced 46.

7. XML is like violence: if it doesn't solve your problem, you aren't using enough of it.

   Unsourced 47.

8. ---

9. Actually, I made up the term “object-oriented”.
   And I can tell you I did not have C++ in mind.

   Alan Kay 48.

10. People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware.

    Alan Kay 49.

11. Simple things should be simple; complex things should be possible.
    [Referring to software for document editing.]

    Alan Kay 50.

12. Adapting old programs to fit new machines usually means adapting new machines to behave like old ones.

    Alan Perlis 51.

13. Around computers, it is difficult to find the correct unit of time to measure progress.
    Some cathedrals took a century to complete. Can you imagine the grandeur and scope of a program that would take as long?

    Alan Perlis 52.

14. Simplicity does not precede complexity, but follows it.

    Alan Perlis 53.

15. Everyone knows that debugging is twice as hard as writing the program in the first place.
    So, if you're as clever as you can be when you write it, how will you ever debug it?

    Brian Kernighan 54.

16. First make it run.
    Then, make it run fast.
    [Referring to computer programs.]

    Brian Kernighan 55.

17. The most effective debugging tool is still careful thought — coupled with judiciously placed print statements.

    Brian Kernighan 56.

18. There are two ways of constructing a software design.
    One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies.
    And the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies.

    C.A.R. Hoare 57.

19. Treat your password like your toothbrush: don't let anybody else use it, and get a new one every six months.

    Clifford Stoll 58.

20. Why is it drug addicts and computer aficionados are both called users?

    Clifford Stoll 59.

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

    Edsger Dijkstra 60.