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Programming Quotes by Alan Perlis
- When someone says, "I want a programming language in which I need only say what I want done," give him a lollipop.
- There are two ways to write error-free programs; only the third one works.
- FORTRAN is not a flower but a weed - it is hardy, occasionally blooms, and grows in every computer.
- A good programming language is a conceptual universe for thinking about programming.
- A language that doesn't affect the way you think about programming is not worth knowing.
- Any noun can be verbed.
- I think that it's extraordinarily important that we in computer science keep fun in computing. When it started out, it was an awful lot of…
- It goes against the grain of modern education to teach students to program. What fun is there to making plans, acquiring discipline, organizing thoughts, devoting…
- Optimization hinders evolution.
- To understand a program, you must become both the machine and the program.
- You think you KNOW when you learn, are more sure when you can write, even more when you can teach, but certain when you can…
- Every reader should ask himself periodically “Toward what end, toward what end?â€â€”but do not ask it too often lest you pass up the fun of…
- In English every word can be verbed. Would that it were so in our programming languages.
- In programming, as in everything else, to be in error is to be reborn.
- Some programming languages manage to absorb change, but withstand progress.
- The best book on programming for the layman is 'Alice in Wonderland'; but that's because it's the best book on anything for the layman.
- A programming language is low level when its programs require attention to the irrelevant.
More Programming Quotes
- The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny...' — Isaac Asimov
- If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur. — Red Adair
- They know enough who know how to learn. — Henry Adams
- I spent three days a week for 10 years educating myself in the public library, and it's better than college. People should… — Ray Bradbury
- Programming is not a zero-sum game. Teaching something to a fellow programmer doesn't take it away from you. I'm happy to share… — John Carmack
- Violence is interesting. This is a great obstacle to world peace and also to more thoughtful television programming. — P.J. O'Rourke
- Whenever you feel upset, take full responsibility for the emotions that you are experiencing. Get to work as quickly as possible identifying… — Ken Keyes Jr.
- Our knowledge and understanding of nonhuman animals is polluted far more than we acknowledge by our belief in our own superiority, our… — Will Tuttle