--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was eventually persuaded of the need to…" description: "\"I was eventually persuaded of the need to design programming notations so as to maximize the number of errors which cannot be made, or if made, can be ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/tony-hoare-25834_computer-language_i-was-eventually-persuaded-of-the-need-t_2800138.png" --- # I was eventually persuaded of the need to design… ![“I was eventually persuaded of the need to design programming notations so as to maximize the number of errors which cannot be made, or if made, can be reliably detected at compile time.” quote by Tony Hoare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/tony-hoare-25834_computer-language_i-was-eventually-persuaded-of-the-need-t_2800138.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/tony-hoare-25834_computer-language_i-was-eventually-persuaded-of-the-need-t_2800138.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/tony-hoare-25834_computer-language_i-was-eventually-persuaded-of-the-need-t_2800138.png) > “I was eventually persuaded of the need to design programming notations so as to maximize the number of errors which cannot be made, or if made, can be reliably detected at compile time.” [Tony Hoare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hoare/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Design programming languages to prevent errors or make them detectable at compile time. **In simple terms:** Prevent or detect errors early. Key Takeaway Prioritize error‑free design. Themes software engineering quality safety Mood pragmatic analytical Type technical practical When to use this quote - coding standards - compiler design - team reviews - education Key Concepts computer science formal methods Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance safety and simplicity? - What errors are hardest to detect? A Different Perspective May increase complexity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Computer language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computer-language/) [Computer programming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computer-programming/) [Design](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/design/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Programming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/programming/) [Programming languages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/programming-languages/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Never put off until run time what you can do at compile time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-gries/never-put-off-until-run-time-what-you-can-do-at-compile-time/) David Gries > [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/) > [In the development of the understanding of complex phenomena, the most powerful tool available to the human intellect is abstraction. Abstraction arises from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/in-the-development-of-the-understanding-of-complex-phenomena-the-most/) [Tony Hoare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hoare/) > [The unavoidable price of reliability is simplicity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/the-unavoidable-price-of-reliability-is-simplicity/) [Tony Hoare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hoare/) > [Programming languages, like pizzas, come in only too sizes; too big and too small.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-e-pattis/programming-languages-like-pizzas-come-in-only-too-sizes-too-big-and/) [Richard E. Pattis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-e-pattis/) > [ One purpose of CRC cards \[a design tool\] is to fail early, to fail often, and to fail inexpensively. It is a lot cheaper… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cay-s-horstmann/one-purpose-of-crc-cards-a-design-tool-is-to-fail-early-to-fail-often/) Cay S. 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Beauty is the ultimate defense against complexity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-gelernter/beauty-is-more-important-in-computing-than-anywhere-else-in/) [David Gelernter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-gelernter/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-perlis/i-think-that-it-s-extraordinarily-important-that-we-in-computer/) [Alan Perlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-perlis/) > [If you cannot grok the overall structure of a program while taking a shower, you are not ready to code it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-e-pattis/if-you-cannot-grok-the-overall-structure-of-a-program-while-taking-a/) [Richard E. Pattis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-e-pattis/) > [In nine months, a group of children left alone with a computer in any language will reach the same standard as an office secretary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sugata-mitra/in-nine-months-a-group-of-children-left-alone-with-a-computer-in-any/) [Sugata Mitra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sugata-mitra/) ## More by Tony Hoare > [Programmers are always surrounded by complexity; we cannot avoid it… If our basic tool, the language in which we design and code our programs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/programmers-are-always-surrounded-by-complexity-we-cannot-avoid-it-if/) [Tony Hoare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hoare/) > [The job of formal methods is to elucidate the assumptions upon which formal correctness depends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/the-job-of-formal-methods-is-to-elucidate-the-assumptions-upon-which/) [Tony Hoare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hoare/) > [A single human brain has about a hundred million nerve cells... and a computer program that throws light on the mind/brain problem will have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/a-single-human-brain-has-about-a-hundred-million-nerve-cells-and-a/) [Tony Hoare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hoare/) > [I don't know what the language of the year 2000 will look like, but I know it will be called Fortran.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/i-don-t-know-what-the-language-of-the-year-2000-will-look-like-but-i/) [Tony Hoare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hoare/) > [You cannot teach beginners top-down programming, because they don't know which end is up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/you-cannot-teach-beginners-top-down-programming-because-they-don-t/) [Tony Hoare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hoare/) > [An ultimate joint challenge for the biological and the computational sciences is the understanding of the mechanisms of the human brain, and its relationship…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/an-ultimate-joint-challenge-for-the-biological-and-the-computational/) [Tony Hoare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hoare/) > [The unavoidable price of reliability is simplicity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/the-unavoidable-price-of-reliability-is-simplicity/) [Tony Hoare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hoare/) > [ What is the central core of the subject \[computer science\]? What is it that distinguishes it from the separate subjects with which it is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/what-is-the-central-core-of-the-subject-computer-science-what-is-it/) [Tony Hoare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hoare/) > [The real value of tests is not that they detect bugs in the code but that they detect inadequacies in the methods, concentration, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/the-real-value-of-tests-is-not-that-they-detect-bugs-in-the-code-but/) [Tony Hoare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hoare/) > [Inside every large program is a small program struggling to get out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/inside-every-large-program-is-a-small-program-struggling-to-get-out/) [Tony Hoare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hoare/) > [Here is a language so far ahead of its time, that it was not only an improvement on its predecessors, but also on nearly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/here-is-a-language-so-far-ahead-of-its-time-that-it-was-not-only-an/) [Tony Hoare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hoare/) > [I call it my billion-dollar mistake. It was the invention of the null reference in 1965.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/i-call-it-my-billion-dollar-mistake-it-was-the-invention-of-the-null/) [Tony Hoare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hoare/) > [It is easy to predict that some of the discoveries of research directed towards Grand Challenges - but only the most unexpected ones, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/it-is-easy-to-predict-that-some-of-the-discoveries-of-research/) [Tony Hoare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hoare/) > [There are two methods in software design. One is to make the program so simple, there are obviously no errors. The other is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/there-are-two-methods-in-software-design-one-is-to-make-the-program/) [Tony Hoare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hoare/) > [Some problems are better evaded than solved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/some-problems-are-better-evaded-than-solved/) [Tony Hoare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hoare/) [Explore all 22 Tony Hoare quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hoare/) ## More Computer language quotes > [In nine months, a group of children left alone with a computer in any language will reach the same standard as an office secretary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sugata-mitra/in-nine-months-a-group-of-children-left-alone-with-a-computer-in-any/) [Sugata Mitra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sugata-mitra/) > [If you cannot grok the overall structure of a program while taking a shower, you are not ready to code it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-e-pattis/if-you-cannot-grok-the-overall-structure-of-a-program-while-taking-a/) [Richard E. Pattis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-e-pattis/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-perlis/i-think-that-it-s-extraordinarily-important-that-we-in-computer/) [Alan Perlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-perlis/) > [Beauty is more important in computing than anywhere else in technology because software is so complicated. Beauty is the ultimate defense against complexity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-gelernter/beauty-is-more-important-in-computing-than-anywhere-else-in/) [David Gelernter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-gelernter/) > [The generation of random numbers is too important to be left to chance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-coveyou/the-generation-of-random-numbers-is-too-important-to-be-left-to-chance/) Robert Coveyou > [First, we want to establish the idea that a computer language is not just a way of getting a computer to perform operations but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-abelson/first-we-want-to-establish-the-idea-that-a-computer-language-is-not/) [Hal Abelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-abelson/) > [When certain concepts of TeX are introduced informally, general rules will be stated; afterwards you will find that the rules aren't strictly true. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-knuth/when-certain-concepts-of-tex-are-introduced-informally-general-rules/) [Donald Knuth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-knuth/) > [A teacher's job is to take a bunch of live wires and see that they are well-grounded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darwin-d-martin/a-teacher-s-job-is-to-take-a-bunch-of-live-wires-and-see-that-they/) Darwin D. Martin > [Computer Science is the only discipline in which we view adding a new wing to a building as being maintenance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-horning/computer-science-is-the-only-discipline-in-which-we-view-adding-a-new/) [Jim Horning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-horning/) > [ One purpose of CRC cards \[a design tool\] is to fail early, to fail often, and to fail inexpensively. It is a lot cheaper… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cay-s-horstmann/one-purpose-of-crc-cards-a-design-tool-is-to-fail-early-to-fail-often/) Cay S. Horstmann > [Programming languages, like pizzas, come in only too sizes; too big and too small.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-e-pattis/programming-languages-like-pizzas-come-in-only-too-sizes-too-big-and/) [Richard E. Pattis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-e-pattis/) > [ It's \[programming\] the only job I can think of where I get to be both an engineer and an artist. There's an incredible, rigorous,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-hertzfeld/it-s-programming-the-only-job-i-can-think-of-where-i-get-to-be-both/) [Andy Hertzfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-hertzfeld/) > [Beauty is more important in computing than anywhere else in technology because software is so complicated. Beauty is the ultimate defense against complexity. ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-gelernter/beauty-is-more-important-in-computing-than-anywhere-else-in-2/) [David Gelernter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-gelernter/) > [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/) > [Composing computer programs to solve scientific problems is like writing poetry. You must choose every word with care and link it with the other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-lovelock/composing-computer-programs-to-solve-scientific-problems-is-like/) [James Lovelock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-lovelock/) [Browse all 123 Computer language quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computer-language/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I was eventually persuaded of the need to design programming notations so as to maximize the number of errors which cannot be made, or if made, can be reliably detected at compile time.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tony Hoare" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/i-was-eventually-persuaded-of-the-need-to-design-programming/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Computer language" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/i-was-eventually-persuaded-of-the-need-to-design-programming/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/tony-hoare-25834_computer-language_i-was-eventually-persuaded-of-the-need-t_2800138.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/tony-hoare-25834_computer-language_i-was-eventually-persuaded-of-the-need-t_2800138.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/tony-hoare-25834_computer-language_i-was-eventually-persuaded-of-the-need-t_2800138.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I was eventually persuaded of the need to design programming notations so as to maximize the number of…” — Tony Hoare", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Tony Hoare", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hoare/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I was eventually persuaded of the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/i-was-eventually-persuaded-of-the-need-to-design-programming/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/i-was-eventually-persuaded-of-the-need-to-design-programming/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```