Behind you Quote by Edsger Dijkstra
“If in physics there's something you don't understand, you can always hide behind the uncharted depths of nature. You can always blame God. You didn't make it so complex yourself. But if your program doesn't work, there is no one to hide behind. You cannot hide behind an obstinate nature. If it doesn't work, you've messed up.”
About This Quote
Source Speech: Lecture on Programming, 1972
When a problem is unclear, people may blame external forces, but in coding the only excuse is one's own error.
In simple terms: Blaming nature works for physics, not for code.
Key Takeaway
Own responsibility for failures.
Themes
responsibility
programming
accountability
Mood
reflective
critical
Type
advice
philosophical
When to use this quote
- debugging
- software design
- team reviews
Key Concepts
software engineering
human error
causality
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you ensure you’re not overlooking your own mistakes?
- What practices reduce personal bias in debugging?
A Different Perspective
Complex systems can still have hidden bugs.
![“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/quotes/img-quotes/6ad/edsger-dijkstra-5102_believe_please-don-t-fall-into-the-trap-of-belie_167695.jpg)
