--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you're as clever as you can be when…" description: "\"If you're as clever as you can be when you write it, how will you ever debug it?\" — Brian Kernighan" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/767/brian-kernighan-27197_clever_if-you-re-as-clever-as-you-can-be-when-y_2043521.jpg" --- # If you're as clever as you can be when you write it, how… ![“If you're as clever as you can be when you write it, how will you ever debug it?” quote by Brian Kernighan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/767/brian-kernighan-27197_clever_if-you-re-as-clever-as-you-can-be-when-y_2043521.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/767/brian-kernighan-27197_clever_if-you-re-as-clever-as-you-can-be-when-y_2043521.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/767/brian-kernighan-27197_clever_if-you-re-as-clever-as-you-can-be-when-y_2043521.jpg) > “If you're as clever as you can be when you write it, how will you ever debug it?” [Brian Kernighan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-kernighan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Complex code is hard to understand and maintain, making debugging difficult. **In simple terms:** Clever code is hard to debug. Key Takeaway Write clear, simple code. Themes software engineering debugging clarity Mood frustrated reflective Type advice technical When to use this quote - team code reviews - learning programming - maintenance tasks - pair programming Key Concepts code readability maintainability complexity Questions to Reflect On - How can you ensure code remains understandable over time? - What practices help catch hidden errors early? A Different Perspective Even simple code can hide subtle bugs if not well‑structured. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Clever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clever/) [Computer language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computer-language/) [Computer programming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computer-programming/) [Debugging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/debugging/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Programming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/programming/) [Programming languages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/programming-languages/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“Everyone knows that debugging is twice as hard as writing a program in the first place. 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Pattis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-e-pattis/) > [I realized that a large part of my life from then on was going to be spent in finding mistakes in my own programs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-wilkes/i-realized-that-a-large-part-of-my-life-from-then-on-was-going-to-be/) [Maurice Wilkes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-wilkes/) > [When debugging, novices insert corrective code; experts remove defective code.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-e-pattis/when-debugging-novices-insert-corrective-code-experts-remove/) [Richard E. Pattis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-e-pattis/) > [Premature optimization is the root of all evil in programming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/premature-optimization-is-the-root-of-all-evil-in-programming/) [Tony Hoare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hoare/) > [We should forget about small efficiencies, say about 97% of the time: premature optimization is the root of all evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-should-forget-about-small-efficiencies-say-about-97-of-the-time-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [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.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-wilkes/as-soon-as-we-started-programming-we-found-to-our-surprise-that-it/) [Maurice Wilkes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-wilkes/) > [Early Apple machines -- don't know how to answer what it was like since there were so few tools. 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Pattis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-e-pattis/) ## More by Brian Kernighan > [Get the weirdnesses into the data where you can manipulate them easily, and the regularity into the code because regular code is a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-kernighan/get-the-weirdnesses-into-the-data-where-you-can-manipulate-them/) [Brian Kernighan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-kernighan/) > [Trying to outsmart a compiler defeats much of the purpose of using one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-kernighan/trying-to-outsmart-a-compiler-defeats-much-of-the-purpose-of-using-one/) [Brian Kernighan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-kernighan/) > [An effective way to test code is to exercise it at its natural boundaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-kernighan/an-effective-way-to-test-code-is-to-exercise-it-at-its-natural/) [Brian Kernighan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-kernighan/) > [As we said in the preface to the first edition, C "wears well as one's experience with it grows." 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Therefore, if you write the code as cleverly as possible, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-kernighan/debugging-is-twice-as-hard-as-writing-the-code-in-the-first-place/) [Brian Kernighan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-kernighan/) > [“Everyone knows that debugging is twice as hard as writing a program in the first place. So if you're as clever as you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-kernighan/everyone-knows-that-debugging-is-twice-as-hard-as-writing-a-program/) [Brian Kernighan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-kernighan/) > [ Another effective \[debugging\] technique is to explain your code to someone else. This will often cause you to explain the bug to yourself. Sometimes… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-kernighan/another-effective-debugging-technique-is-to-explain-your-code-to/) [Brian Kernighan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-kernighan/) > [... it is a fundamental principle of testing that you must know in advance the answer each test case is supposed to produce. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-kernighan/it-is-a-fundamental-principle-of-testing-that-you-must-know-in/) [Brian Kernighan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-kernighan/) > [Do what you think is interesting, do something that you think is fun and worthwhile, because otherwise you won't do it well anyway.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-kernighan/do-what-you-think-is-interesting-do-something-that-you-think-is-fun/) [Brian Kernighan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-kernighan/) [Explore all 21 Brian Kernighan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-kernighan/) ## More Clever quotes > [In some circles where very heavy people think they have very heavy brains, words like "charming" and "clever" and "pretty" are all put-downs; all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-warhol/in-some-circles-where-very-heavy-people-think-they-have-very-heavy/) [Andy Warhol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-warhol/) > [You're beautiful, cute, pretty, gorgeous, and fuck.. I ran out of words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghib-clitso/you-re-beautiful-cute-pretty-gorgeous-and-fuck-i-ran-out-of-words/) [Raghib Clitso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghib-clitso/) > [What we shall need is not geniuses, or cynics, or misanthropes, or clever tacticians, but plain, honest, straghtforward men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/what-we-shall-need-is-not-geniuses-or-cynics-or-misanthropes-or/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [“There was once an old but clever donkey, who never liked the sting of any bee, Nor for all the Slung mud, did he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/priyavrat-thareja/there-was-once-an-old-but-clever-donkey-who-never-liked-the-sting-of/) [Priyavrat Thareja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/priyavrat-thareja/) > [ There was another reason \[she\] took her books whenever they went away. They were her home when she was somewhere strange. They were familiar… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/there-was-another-reason-she-took-her-books-whenever-they-went-away/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [“The cactus thrives in the desert while the fern thrives in the wetland. The fool will try to plant them in the same flowerbox.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/the-cactus-thrives-in-the-desert-while-the-fern-thrives-in-the/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [Good people are found not changed. Recently I read a headline that said, 'We don't teach people to be nice. We simply hire nice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/good-people-are-found-not-changed-recently-i-read-a-headline-that/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [If she is stupid enough to let you go, you're clever enough not to look back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-she-is-stupid-enough-to-let-you-go-you-re-clever-enough-not-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Need to go to the pharmacy, because I'm so sick!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tasha-matthews/need-to-go-to-the-pharmacy-because-i-m-so-sick/) Tasha Matthews > [My valour is certainly going! - it is sneaking off! - I feel it oozing out as it were at the palms of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/my-valour-is-certainly-going-it-is-sneaking-off-i-feel-it-oozing-out/) [Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/) > ['I Love You' fails to sum up all the memories, smiles, laughs, trials, and tribulations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghib-clitso/i-love-you-fails-to-sum-up-all-the-memories-smiles-laughs-trials-and/) [Raghib Clitso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghib-clitso/) > [People may say that what I do is very clever, but it's not really at all. It's not Swift.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rory-bremner/people-may-say-that-what-i-do-is-very-clever-but-it-s-not-really-at/) [Rory Bremner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rory-bremner/) > [I do remember what I said. The promise. To protect her. If I'd done that ... even if I didn't make it, you wouldn't've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joss-whedon/i-do-remember-what-i-said-the-promise-to-protect-her-if-i-d-done-that/) [Joss Whedon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joss-whedon/) > [“Regrets are like mistresses," he informed her. "I ..." Her hand dropped from the handle. "What?" "Good men don't have them." 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