Mentally mutilated potential programmers beyond hope of regeneration. — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share Image
The effective exploitation of his powers of abstraction must be regarded as one of the most vital activities of a competent programmer. — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share Image
The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than the question of whether a submarine can swim. — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share Image
Too few people recognize that the high technology so celebrated today is essentially a mathematical technology. — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share Image
The computing scientist's main challenge is not to get confused by the complexities of his own making. — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share Image
Program testing can be used to show the presence of bugs, but never to show their absence! — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share Image
Object-oriented programming is an exceptionally bad idea which could only have originated in California. — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share Image
If we wish to count lines of code, we should not regard them as 'lines produced' but as 'lines spent.' — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share Image
If you want more effective programmers, you will discover that they should not waste their time debugging, they should not introduce the… — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share Image
Don't blame me for the fact that competent programming, as I view it as an intellectual possibility, will be too difficult for… — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share Image
It is a mistake to think that programmers wares are programs. Programmers have to produce trustworthy solutions and present it in the… — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share Image
FORTRAN, the infantile disorder, by now nearly 20 years old, is hopelessly inadequate for whatever computer application you have in mind today:… — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share Image
When we had no computers, we had no programming problem either. When we had a few computers, we had a mild programming… — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share Image
Lisp has jokingly been called "the most intelligent way to misuse a computer". I think that description is a great compliment because… — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share Image
LISP has jokingly been described as "the most intelligent way to misuse a computer." I think that description is a great compliment… — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share Image
It is practically impossible to teach good programming to students that have had a prior exposure to BASIC: as potential programmers they… — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share Image
When we take the position that it is not only the programmer's responsibility to produce a correct program but also to demonstrate… — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share Image
A most important, but also most elusive, aspect of any tool is its influence on the habits of those who train themselves… — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share Image
When I came back from Munich, it was September, and I was Professor of Mathematics at the Eindhoven University of Technology. Later… — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share Image
In this respect a program is like a poem: you cannot write a poem without writing it. Yet people talk about programming… — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share Image
The required techniques of effective reasoning are pretty formal, but as long as programming is done by people that don't master them,… — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share Image
A programming language is a tool that has profound influence on our thinking habits. — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share Image
It used to be the program's purpose to instruct our computers; it became the computer's purpose to execute our programs. — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share Image
We shall do a much better programming job, provided that we approach the task with a full appreciation of its tremendous difficulty,… — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share Image
[Though computer science is a fairly new discipline, it is predominantly based on the Cartesian world view. As Edsgar W. Dijkstra has… — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share Image
APL is a mistake, carried through to perfection. It is the language of the future for the programming techniques of the past:… — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share Image
The competent programmer is fully aware of the limited size of his own skull. He therefore approaches his task with full humility,… — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share Image
In their capacity as a tool, computers will be but a ripple on the surface of our culture. In their capacity as… — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share Image
Please don't fall into the trap of believing that I am terribly dogmatical about [the goto statement]. I have the uncomfortable feeling… — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share Image
Production speed is severely slowed down if one works with half-time people who have other obligations as well. This is at least a factor… — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share
The computing scientist's main challenge is not to get confused by the complexities of his own making. — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share
Probably I am very naive, but I also think I prefer to remain so, at least for the time being and perhaps for the… — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share
In the good old days physicists repeated each other's experiments, just to be sure. Today they stick to FORTRAN, so that they can share… — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share
Don't compete with me: firstly, I have more experience, and secondly, I have chosen the weapons. — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share
Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes. — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share
The use of anthropomorphic terminology forces you linguistically to adopt an operational view. And it makes it practically impossible to argue about programs independently… — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share
Teaching to unsuspecting youngsters the effective use of formal methods is one of the joys of life because it is so extremely rewarding. — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share
Please don't fall into the trap of believing that I am terribly dogmatical about [the goto statement]. I have the uncomfortable feeling that others… — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share
Several people have told me that my inability to suffer fools gladly is one of my main weaknesses. — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share
I now have had my foggy crystal ball for quite a long time. Its predictions are invariably gloomy and usually correct, but I am… — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share
In this respect a program is like a poem: you cannot write a poem without writing it. Yet people talk about programming as if… — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share
About the use of language: it is impossible to sharpen a pencil with a blunt axe. It is equally vain to try to do… — Edsger Dijkstra Copy Share
![“[Though computer science is a fairly new discipline, it is predominantly based on the Cartesian world view. As Edsgar W. Dijkstra has pointed out] A scientific discipline emerges with the - usually rather slow! - discovery of which aspects can be meaningfully 'studied' in isolation for the sake of…” quote by Edsger Dijkstra](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/22a/edsger-dijkstra-5102_aspect_though-computer-science-is-a-fairly-new_1280947.png)
![“Please don't fall into the trap of believing that I am terribly dogmatical about [the goto statement]. I have the uncomfortable feeling that others are making a religion out of it, as if the conceptual problems of programming could be solved by a single trick, by a simple form of coding discipline!” quote by Edsger Dijkstra](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/6ad/edsger-dijkstra-5102_believe_please-don-t-fall-into-the-trap-of-belie_167695.png)
