Privacy Policy

For a long time it puzzled me how something so expensive, so leading edge, could be so useless. And then it occurred to me that a computer is a stupid machine with the ability to do incredibly smart things, while computer programmers are smart people with the ability to do incredibly stupid things. They are, in short, a perfect match. (Bill Bryson) Never trust a computer you can’t throw out a window. (Steve Wozniak) In order to understand recursion, one must first understand recursion. (Anonymous) Don’t worry if it doesn’t work right. If everything did, you’d be out of a job. (Mosher’s Law of Software Engineering)

Computer science education cannot make anybody an expert programmer any more than studying brushes and pigment can make somebody an expert painter. (Eric Raymond) In software, we rarely have meaningful requirements. Even if we do, the only measure of success that matters is whether our solution solves the customer’s shifting idea of what their problem is. (Jeff Atwood) It’s ridiculous to live 100 years and only be able to remember 30 million bytes. You know, less than a compact disc. The human condition is really becoming more obsolete every minute. (Marvin Minsky) I think there’s a world market for about 5 computers. (Thomas J. Watson, Chairman of the Board, IBM, circa 1948) To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer. (Paul Ehrlich)

There is no programming language–no matter how structured–that will prevent programmers from making bad programs. (Larry Flon) I don’t care if it works on your machine! We are not shipping your machine! (Vidiu Platon) I think there’s a world market for about 5 computers. (Thomas J. Watson, Chairman of the Board, IBM, circa 1948) Optimism is an occupational hazard of programming; feedback is the treatment. (Kent Beck)

First, solve the problem. Then, write the code. (John Johnson) As soon as we started programming, we found to our surprise that it wasn’t as easy to get programs right as we had thought. Debugging had to be discovered. I can remember the exact instant when I realized that a large part of my life from then on was going to be spent in finding mistakes in my own programs. (Maurice Wilkes discovers debugging, 1949) Never trust a computer you can’t throw out a window. (Steve Wozniak) First learn computer science and all the theory. Next develop a programming style. Then forget all that and just hack. (George Carrette) Fifty years of programming language research, and we end up with C++? (Richard A. O’Keefe)

It’s a curious thing about our industry: not only do we not learn from our mistakes, but we also don’t learn from our successes. (Keith Braithwaite) The cheapest, fastest, and most reliable components are those that aren’t there. (Gordon Bell) A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any invention in human history–with the possible exceptions of handguns and tequila. (Mitch Radcliffe) The best thing about a boolean is even if you are wrong, you are only off by a bit. (Anonymous) There’s an old story about the person who wished his computer were as easy to use as his telephone. That wish has come true, since I no longer know how to use my telephone. (Bjarne Stroustrup)

A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any invention in human history–with the possible exceptions of handguns and tequila. (Mitch Radcliffe) The best programmers are not marginally better than merely good ones. They are an order-of-magnitude better, measured by whatever standard: conceptual creativity, speed, ingenuity of design, or problem-solving ability. (Randall E. Stross) Writing code has a place in the human hierarchy worth somewhere above grave robbing and beneath managing. (Gerald Weinberg) You can’t have great software without a great team, and most software teams behave like dysfunctional families. (Jim McCarthy)

There is no programming language–no matter how structured–that will prevent programmers from making bad programs. (Larry Flon) Controlling complexity is the essence of computer programming. (Brian Kernigan) A good programmer is someone who always looks both ways before crossing a one-way street. (Doug Linder) The question of whether computers can think is like the question of whether submarines can swim. (Edsger W. Dijkstra) Good code is its own best documentation. (Steve McConnell)

PHP is a minor evil perpetrated and created by incompetent amateurs, whereas Perl is a great and insidious evil perpetrated by skilled but perverted professionals. (Jon Ribbens) Software suppliers are trying to make their software packages more ‘user-friendly’… Their best approach so far has been to take all the old brochures and stamp the words ‘user-friendly’ on the cover. (Bill Gates) Computer science education cannot make anybody an expert programmer any more than studying brushes and pigment can make somebody an expert painter. (Eric Raymond) That’s the thing about people who think they hate computers. What they really hate is lousy programmers. (Larry Niven)

Any code of your own that you haven’t looked at for six or more months might as well have been written by someone else. (Eagleson’s Law) Writing code has a place in the human hierarchy worth somewhere above grave robbing and beneath managing. (Gerald Weinberg) The Internet? Is that thing still around? (Homer Simpson) Writing in C or C++ is like running a chain saw with all the safety guards removed. (Bob Gray) The use of COBOL cripples the mind; its teaching should therefore be regarded as a criminal offense. (E.W. Dijkstra)