What's your favourite quote about programming?

Question

One quote per answer, and please check for duplicates before posting!

score 231 · Answer 1 · edited Sep 27 '10 at 14:42

231

Debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place. Therefore, if you write the code as cleverly as possible, you are, by definition, not smart enough to debug it.

— Brian W. Kernighan

edited Sep 27 '10 at 14:42

Tamara Wijsman

8,259
14
58
94

answered Sep 01 '10 at 20:15

Fishtoaster

25,909
15
111
154

Everytime I'm writing some clever bit of code, I remind myself of this rule and look back over it to see if I can't do things in a simpler way that will be easier to maintain later, or at least add some more comments. – CodexArcanum Oct 12 '10 at 19:26
6

A corolloary of an otherwise true maxim: Don't forget that a diagram can increase your brain power. You can swap out "remember structure of big thing" to nonvolatile paper. – Tim Williscroft Oct 25 '10 at 00:49
1

I love the quote but the implication is that we should at most put 50% of our effort into coding in the first place. – Jon Hopkins Nov 12 '10 at 09:55
4

I think the implication is that you should avoid that programmer's urge to use the 'clever' way to do something when the slightly longer, more obvious way of doing something works just fine. – Fishtoaster Nov 12 '10 at 17:48
2

But what if it's "perfect" code? There's no way to "debug" that. – Mateen Ulhaq Dec 12 '10 at 04:34

score 183 · Answer 2 · edited Sep 27 '10 at 14:43

183

Walking on water and developing software from a specification are easy if both are frozen.

— Edward V Berard

edited Sep 27 '10 at 14:43

Tamara Wijsman

8,259
14
58
94

answered Sep 01 '10 at 20:09

Tobiasopdenbrouw

1,001
1
10
10

Quote of the year, I'm gonna use this one – Gortron Dec 16 '10 at 20:24
I hate this one. It's never the case, so who cares? – JP Alioto Dec 26 '10 at 06:52

score 138 · Answer 3 · edited Oct 11 '10 at 17:43

138

It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law.
— Hofstadter's Law

edited Oct 11 '10 at 17:43

answered Sep 01 '10 at 20:40

nivlam

2,840
3
23
20

72

Brain stack overflow. – Nathan Taylor Sep 02 '10 at 01:45
3

@Joe D: I'm curious how you'd rewrite a recursive *English* sentence into a single non-recursive sentence. – Jon Purdy Sep 22 '10 at 04:08
4

It may converge for sufficient small values of "longer" – mouviciel Sep 22 '10 at 18:02
3

+1 - I'm proud to count myself among the top billion programmers along with Douglas Hofstadter. – Peter Turner Oct 11 '10 at 16:09
@g.f: When it's transformed into defining the source afterwards (with a dash), the leading introduction isn't warranted ("A: Blah." -> "Blah. -- A"). This isn't removing part of the quote. – Oct 11 '10 at 17:43
@Roger: In this case it takes away part of the intent for me: *"A: Even if A"*. – g.f Oct 11 '10 at 19:29
@g.f: If you want to edit it that way without the redundancy (e.g. *not* "A: Blah. -- A", but "A: Blah."), I wouldn't revert it, but I think it's fine like this too. – Oct 11 '10 at 20:06

score 126 · Answer 4 · edited Sep 27 '10 at 14:45

126

Always code as if the guy who ends up maintaining your code will be a violent psychopath who knows where you live.

— Rick Osborne

edited Sep 27 '10 at 14:45

Tamara Wijsman

8,259
14
58
94

answered Sep 04 '10 at 10:57

Wil

546
1
5
9

12

it seems I keep ending up maintaining code that I wish I knew where the creator lived, but its probably a good thing I don't. – WalterJ89 Sep 10 '10 at 07:00
Brings new meaning to the term "killer app." I seem to always end up maintaining the psychopath's code after he's incarcerated. – webbiedave Oct 12 '10 at 21:09
8

@webbiedave You work on ReiserFS? :) – Neil Aitken Nov 01 '10 at 15:08
The company must really hate you if the killer got your job. – Mateen Ulhaq Dec 12 '10 at 04:36

score 118 · Answer 5 · edited Oct 29 '10 at 08:07

118

You can have the project:

Done On Time

Done On Budget

Done Properly

Pick two.

— Unknown

edited Oct 29 '10 at 08:07

Bobby

253
2
11

answered Sep 04 '10 at 01:12

Chinmay Kanchi

6,173
2
39
51

22

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_triangle – rwong Sep 09 '10 at 12:16
5

Reminds me of a similar triangle, but with women. "You can have a girlfriend that: Is smart, is attractive, has a good personality." – Maxpm Dec 16 '10 at 04:59
Don't forget that exceptions do exist, though they're rare - don't count on it. – Mircea Chirea Dec 16 '10 at 18:39
Faster, Better, Cheaper - Pick 2. If you are very lucky ! – Martin Beckett Dec 26 '10 at 02:14
5

@Maxpm: The version I heard was "The 4 S's: Smart, Sexy, Sane, Single. Pick 3." – Mason Wheeler Jan 20 '11 at 18:27
1

So, when there are no constraints on time and budget you cannot do it properly. Good to know. – Antsan Jan 20 '11 at 20:22
@Antsan You mean,when there ARE constraints on time and budget,you can't do it properly – lightsong May 15 '11 at 11:09
@Antsan: This can be true, since you'd always want to polish your baby "that little bit more". Look at Duke Nukem Forever. – Chinmay Kanchi May 17 '11 at 15:21

score 111 · Answer 6 · edited Sep 27 '10 at 14:44

111

Some people, when confronted with a problem, think "I know, I'll use regular expressions."
Now they have two problems.

— Jamie Zawinski

edited Sep 27 '10 at 14:44

Tamara Wijsman

8,259
14
58
94

answered Sep 01 '10 at 21:33

Noah Goodrich

1,396
1
12
17

5

A timeless classic – Factor Mystic Sep 08 '10 at 23:52
5

Some people, when confronted with a problem, think "I know, I'll use ." Now they have two problems. – Callum Rogers Sep 22 '10 at 18:58
40

Some people when confronted with a problem don't think, they just post on StackOverflow – Matt Ellen Oct 11 '10 at 08:16
That is my personal all time favorite. – Nick Hodges Nov 12 '10 at 00:47
5

Some people don't understand regular expressions, and hate them because others do. – Orbling Dec 16 '10 at 17:14
@Orbling, I've understood regular expressions deeply at different points, and I manage to get them to bend to my will (which doesn't will much). But beyond the macho idea that, "if you're not an expert, you should shut up," can't we begin to admit that regular expressions are horribly obtuse and that the densely packed syntax is pointless? – Dan Rosenstark Dec 26 '10 at 00:44
3

@Yar - I've never found the syntax obtuse personally, and the density is a good thing. Why express something like a pattern match in a more verbose format? Where clarity is required for something complicated, the extended mode can be used with comments. – Orbling Dec 26 '10 at 03:59
1

@Matt Now two people have the same problem. – Rei Miyasaka Jun 19 '11 at 22:00

score 110 · Answer 7 · edited Sep 27 '10 at 14:45

110

In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But, in practice, there is.

— Jan L. A. van de Snepscheut

edited Sep 27 '10 at 14:45

Tamara Wijsman

8,259
14
58
94

answered Sep 06 '10 at 16:05

Walter

16,158
8
58
95

27

I've also heard "The difference between theory and practice is smaller in theory than in practice." – Sep 10 '10 at 17:02
1

Roger Pate's formulation is the one I heard, written by Olin Shivers in "History of T". Paul Graham talks about it here: http://www.paulgraham.com/thist.html – Michael H. Oct 11 '10 at 18:45
2

I'd say if a theory doesn't translate to practice, then the theory is simply incomplete. – Rei Miyasaka Dec 28 '10 at 01:35

Walter · Answer 8 · 2010-10-11T15:26:30.000

105

You can use an eraser on the drafting table or a sledgehammer on the construction site - Frank Lloyd Wright

Not exactly a programming quote but it most certainly applies.

edited Oct 11 '10 at 15:26

answered Sep 01 '10 at 23:18

Walter

16,158
8
58
95

14

Highly applicable IMO – John MacIntyre Sep 09 '10 at 01:06
goes to show how many metaphors software engineering draws from architecture... so much so that it _is_ called software arechitecture.. – Here Be Wolves Sep 27 '10 at 19:39
3

Luckily for us when most software goes wrong it doesn't collapse and kill people. – Neil Aitken Sep 29 '10 at 10:58
8

Except when it blows up an Ariane 5 (Flight 501), or doses people with lethally high levels of radiation... – Frank Shearar Oct 02 '10 at 19:58
@TomWij: The poster of this answer wants his comments below the quote, as shown by his rollback when you changed that the first time. Is there a reason to disregard his wishes here? – Oct 11 '10 at 13:57
I'm sorry for interrupting [your activity](http://programmers.stackexchange.com/users/209?tab=activity)... – Tamara Wijsman Oct 11 '10 at 14:59
@TomWij - Why do you have this uncontrollable urge to reformat everyone's answers? Answers in this question are formatted equally with the person quoted inside the quote box as well as outside the quote box. Do you intend to reformat EVERY answer?? WHY? – Walter Oct 11 '10 at 15:36
@TomWij: What?⁠ – Oct 11 '10 at 16:02
@Walter: It is nice to have some consistency; you'll note I've been doing that too, including here. I would disregard your preference of a "-" to "—" for that reason, but I simply don't see a reason for insisting your comment is at a particular place. – Oct 11 '10 at 16:05
@Roger - It's MY answer. I'm finding it hard to understand why you insist that my comment, in my answer, fit your expectations. – Walter Oct 11 '10 at 16:44
@Walter: This is a *community wiki* answer; from the [FAQ](http://programmers.stackexchange.com/faq): "If you are not comfortable with the idea of your questions and answers being edited by other trusted users, this may not be the site for you." That said, the consistency I'm talking about above is typographical consistency, not changing your intent. – Oct 11 '10 at 17:06
@Roger - I completly understand that, but what makes YOUR formatting standard better than MINE??? Other than it's your preference? Am I not part of this community as well? – Walter Oct 11 '10 at 17:25
@Walter: See also "Other people can edit my stuff?!" from the FAQ. – Tamara Wijsman Oct 11 '10 at 17:41
@Roger: The author name does not belong in the quote as you've been doing quite a few times, it isn't the author name that is quoted... – Tamara Wijsman Oct 11 '10 at 17:43
@TomWij: Source citations belong inside the blockquote according to most style manuals. For example, [this APA example](http://www.docstyles.com/apacrib.htm#Sec34) explicitly shows the parenthetical citation (which admittedly doesn't *exactly* match our use case) at the end of the last paragraph; but give the guideline: "Add the citation to the end of the block quote after the final punctuation." If there were prose in a paragraph beforehand, e.g. "The witty remark for which Blah blah is known:", that'd be different, but it's not the case here either. – Oct 11 '10 at 17:49
@Roger Plate: I don't see how APA styles apply here, this is a website. Not a paper... The author his name does not fit in a blockquote, which denotes the thing being quoted. I don't see how the author name is part of the quote itself... – Tamara Wijsman Oct 11 '10 at 17:56
@TomWij: APA was just one example. You can put more inside the blockquote without implying it's being quoted. – Oct 11 '10 at 18:02
@TomWij & @Roger - Thank you both for proving my point. Until there is a documented standard that the SE communities are going to follow, I would suggest not imposing your standards on those who do not agree. – Walter Oct 11 '10 at 18:28
2

Ironically, I believe many of Frank Lloyd Wright's more convoluted buildings have fallen into disrepair. – Maxpm Dec 16 '10 at 05:03
1

@TomWij, @Walter, @Roger: Please refrain from dirtying this site with your metatalk. If I wanted to hear bickering, I would visit meta.stackoverflow.com. This is where you should be having this fascinating and timeless conversation. – Dan Rosenstark Dec 26 '10 at 00:49
@Yar: Oh please... The user won't be informed in that way, I guess you have listed me by mistake or else you would just add to this silly conversation. Apart from that, comments like these are hidden until you expand them so I wouldn't call it dirtying; but indeed, those users should go to the meta instead of responding if they have a problem with it. – Tamara Wijsman Dec 26 '10 at 10:42

score 103 · Answer 9 · edited Jan 20 '11 at 09:57

103

Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning.

— Rick Cook

edited Jan 20 '11 at 09:57

Matthew Frederick

1,719
10
15

answered Sep 01 '10 at 21:08

score 98 · Answer 10 · edited Oct 08 '10 at 11:08

98

Measuring programming progress by lines of code is like measuring aircraft building progress by weight.
— Bill Gates

edited Oct 08 '10 at 11:08

answered Sep 09 '10 at 01:06

Maniero

10,826
14
80
133

2

-- Bill Gates (http://www.softwarequotes.com/printableshowquotes.aspx?id=579) – Bill Karwin Sep 09 '10 at 18:04
3

This is true on multiple levels. A gem. – Oct 10 '10 at 19:21
3

The key difference being, of course, that the aircraft's final weight is known while the software's final LOC count is unknown. – mmyers Oct 28 '10 at 15:40
5

So why do most Microsoft products give me this feeling that I'm chained by my foot to an airplane that is struggling to get off the runway? – Sharpie Jan 09 '11 at 00:10

score 86 · Answer 11 · edited Jun 16 '20 at 10:01

86

There are 2 hard problems in computer science: cache invalidation, naming things, and off-by-1 errors.

— Leon Bambrick (@secretGeek)

(Actually, everything from http://q4td.blogspot.com/search/label/programming seeing as I curate the list.)

edited Jun 16 '20 at 10:01

Community

1

answered Sep 09 '10 at 13:21

Evan

1,422
1
11
14

I've never seen a quote point out how difficult naming things can be. I feel a sudden solidarity. – CodexArcanum Oct 12 '10 at 19:30
That's 3 things. The first two are the original quote from Phil Karlton. @CodexArcanum. Naming things *well* is the trick. – StuperUser Jan 18 '11 at 18:19
@StuperUser *whooosh!* you missed the joke! – Agos Jan 20 '11 at 17:27
Took two seconds to get that after you pointed that out. Herp derp. – StuperUser Jan 20 '11 at 18:10

score 85 · Answer 12 · edited Oct 08 '10 at 11:09

85

Nine people can't make a baby in a month.
— Fred Brooks, The Mythical Man-Month

edited Oct 08 '10 at 11:09

answered Sep 09 '10 at 01:11

Maniero

10,826
14
80
133

-- Fred Brooks, in "The Mythical Man-Month" – Bill Karwin Sep 09 '10 at 18:20
14

technically: 18 people can't make a baby in a month – Here Be Wolves Sep 27 '10 at 19:45
13

@HereBeWolves or 10 – WalterJ89 Oct 07 '10 at 16:39
@Here Be Wolves: Technically: 10 people can't make a baby in a month. ;) – Joe D Oct 08 '10 at 22:39
14

What's wrong with 1 guy and 8 ladies? Sounds just about right to me. – Oct 10 '10 at 03:40
4

If we go for twins or triplets we need fewer ladies. – Oct 21 '10 at 06:37
12

While the first baby will suffer 9 months latency, proper pipelining will continue to deliver 1 per month... – Brian Knoblauch Jan 19 '11 at 15:42
All these comments fails to reach the goal of the Quote. They're right but do it and your budget will go crazy because you expected just 1 baby. – Maniero Jan 20 '11 at 23:09

score 82 · Answer 13 · edited Nov 12 '10 at 09:53

82

We should forget about small efficiencies, say about 97% of the time: premature optimization is the root of all evil. Yet we should not pass up our opportunities in that critical 3%.
— Donald Knuth, Structured Programming with go to Statements, JACM Computing Surveys, Vol 6, No. 4, Dec. 1974, p.268

This is extracted from the below two paragraphs, which not only say why he comes to the above conclusion, but gives information on how to avoid this mistake:

There is no doubt that the grail of efficiency leads to abuse. Programmers waste enormous amounts of time thinking about, or worrying about, the speed of noncritical parts of their programs, and these attempts at efficiency actually have a strong negative impact when debugging and maintenance are considered. We should forget about small efficiencies, say about 97% of the time: premature optimization is the root of all evil.

Yet we should not pass up our opportunities in that critical 3%. A good programmer will not be lulled into complacency by such reasoning, he will be wise to look carefully at the critical code; but only after that code has been identified. It is often a mistake to make a priori judgments about what parts of a program are really critical, since the universal experience of programmers who have been using measurement tools has been that their intuitive guesses fail. (…)

edited Nov 12 '10 at 09:53

Joren

103
1
4

answered Sep 04 '10 at 01:00

Scott Dorman

1,489
1
11
8

2

@Roger Pate: I suspect you're right, most people don't realize there is more to the quote. – Scott Dorman Sep 09 '10 at 14:01
5

Hope you don't mind that I included a bit more. I think it's really important and maybe this will encourage more to read the full paper. :) – Sep 10 '10 at 17:36
@Roger Pate:Not at all! – Scott Dorman Sep 11 '10 at 03:29
5

+1 Thanks for the full quote. I never know there was more to it. – Evan Plaice Sep 11 '10 at 09:10
2

It's great that you posted the entire quote. A lot of people just know the sort version and have no idea what Knuth actually meant by that. – DasIch Dec 26 '10 at 01:15
Tinyurl for this answer that I found on SO: http://tinyurl.com/knuth-premature – Fred Nurk Feb 04 '11 at 18:04

score 80 · Answer 14 · edited Sep 27 '10 at 14:46

80

Debuggers don't remove bugs. They only show them in slow motion.

— Unknown

edited Sep 27 '10 at 14:46

Tamara Wijsman

8,259
14
58
94

answered Sep 03 '10 at 10:29

pramodc84

1,803
23
23

35

Or in many cases, make them stop appearing entirely. – Graeme Perrow Sep 27 '10 at 14:44
12

@Graeme those cases are called Heisenbugs :) – Here Be Wolves Sep 27 '10 at 19:40

score 76 · Answer 15 · edited Sep 27 '10 at 15:17

76

The first 90% of the code accounts for the first 90% of the development time. The remaining 10% of the code accounts for the other 90% of the development time.

— Tom Cargill

edited Sep 27 '10 at 15:17

Tamara Wijsman

8,259
14
58
94

answered Sep 04 '10 at 12:31

Chris

5,663
3
28
39

Who said that originally? – Paddyslacker Sep 06 '10 at 06:45
Originally to me was a fellow classmate, but I do not know for certain who said it originally. – Chris Sep 06 '10 at 14:05
I don't know if this can even be attributed to a single person since it's obvious to anybody whose implemented a product from start to finish ... even just a little piece of shareware. – John MacIntyre Sep 09 '10 at 01:10
10

I think you'll find that 90% of the code takes 90% of the time, and the last 10% of the code takes the other 90% of the time. – FacticiusVir Sep 09 '10 at 01:14
2

Tom Cargill of Bell Labs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninety-ninety_rule – Bill Karwin Sep 09 '10 at 02:46
1

I know this: 20% mates drink 80% beer. – Zzz Oct 01 '10 at 21:41
1

Personally, I'd say that the first 90% of the code accounts for the first 90% of the development time. Then, the remaining 90% of the code accounts for the other 90% of the development time. – Kaz Dragon Oct 21 '10 at 08:58
@Facticius haha, I like that. – Rei Miyasaka Dec 28 '10 at 01:32

score 70 · Answer 16 · edited Oct 08 '10 at 11:21

70

If Java had true garbage collection, most programs would delete themselves upon execution.
— Robert Sewell

edited Oct 08 '10 at 11:21

answered Sep 09 '10 at 01:19

Maniero

10,826
14
80
133

22

funny, just made me think of php. – WalterJ89 Oct 07 '10 at 16:40
2

@WalterJ89: Worry not! Up until PHP 5.3, PHP is refcounted. – zneak Oct 10 '10 at 23:17
I like this one! – MDV2000 Oct 13 '10 at 18:43
@WalterJ89 Well, I see no reason to single out Java as opposed to COBOL, C++, VB, or others. – Mark C Mar 02 '11 at 21:13

score 68 · Answer 17 · edited Oct 11 '10 at 13:46

68

Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes

— Edsger Dijkstra

edited Oct 11 '10 at 13:46

Tamara Wijsman

8,259
14
58
94

answered Sep 09 '10 at 01:02

Maniero

10,826
14
80
133

4

Yes, but this is supposed to be about *programming*, not computer science. [sly grin] – Mark C Oct 11 '10 at 17:21
Programming is just applying the knowledge gathered with computer science. You don't need a computer to program, at least not one like most are familiar with. – DasIch Dec 26 '10 at 01:18
I've always felt that the most annoying thing about programming is that I can't separate it from computers. – LoveMeSomeCode Mar 29 '11 at 15:51

score 56 · Answer 18 · edited Oct 08 '10 at 11:11

56

If debugging is the process of removing software bugs, then programming must be the process of putting them in.
— Edsger Dijkstra

edited Oct 08 '10 at 11:11

answered Sep 07 '10 at 02:11

pramodc84

1,803
23
23

24

That's why I like to refer to my job as *enbugging*. – deceze Sep 13 '10 at 02:02
9

And maintenance as *rebugging*? – Joe D Oct 08 '10 at 22:41
1

*@JoeD* No, "bugwatching". – Mark C Oct 11 '10 at 17:22

Maniero · Answer 19 · 2010-10-02T20:57:34.193

56

There are only two kinds of languages: the ones people complain about and the ones nobody uses

— Bjarne Stroustrup

edited Oct 02 '10 at 20:57

answered Sep 09 '10 at 00:27

Maniero

10,826
14
80
133

15

bad excuse for C++ suckage – hasen Nov 12 '10 at 10:17
3

C# is an obvious counter-example. – Timwi Dec 26 '10 at 12:46
7

And VB falls into both categories. – Quick Joe Smith Jan 20 '11 at 12:09

pramodc84 · Answer 20 · 2010-10-08T15:06:40.500

48

The best thing about a boolean is even if you are wrong, you are only off by a bit. - (Anonymous)

edited Oct 08 '10 at 15:06

answered Sep 07 '10 at 02:16

pramodc84

1,803
23
23

The worst thing being that you can't be more wrong ? – POSIX_ME_HARDER Apr 24 '11 at 23:31

score 46 · Answer 21 · edited Oct 08 '10 at 11:29

46

On two occasions I have been asked, "Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?" In one case a member of the Upper, and in the other a member of the Lower House put this question. I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.
— Charles Babbage

Arguably the first documented case of a programmer encountering stupid user questions.

edited Oct 08 '10 at 11:29

answered Sep 22 '10 at 17:29

Jay

1,901
13
15

5

Sounds like a T-Shirt idea! "User Error: Fouling things up since 1832". (Date?) – Mark C Sep 28 '10 at 12:48

Maniero · Answer 22 · 2010-09-25T02:12:52.853

42

I have always wished for my computer to be as easy to use as my telephone; my wish has come true because I can no longer figure out how to use my telephone

-- Bjarne Stroustrup

edited Sep 25 '10 at 02:12

answered Sep 09 '10 at 01:43

Maniero

10,826
14
80
133

score 42 · Answer 23 · edited Oct 08 '10 at 11:10

42

It's all talk until the code runs.
— Ward Cunningham

edited Oct 08 '10 at 11:10

answered Sep 01 '10 at 23:15

Walter

16,158
8
58
95

score 39 · Answer 24 · edited Sep 27 '10 at 15:19

39

Commenting your code is like cleaning your bathroom - you never want to do it, but it really does create a more pleasant experience for you and your guests.

— Ryan Campbell

edited Sep 27 '10 at 15:19

Tamara Wijsman

8,259
14
58
94

answered Sep 01 '10 at 20:03

HoLyVieR

976
1
13
16

1

Meh...Most comments I've encountered in my life are written under the assumption that comments can make up for poorly written code.. – riwalk Oct 14 '10 at 20:53
You can clean the bathroom, but if the shower only has cold water and the sink has no soap it's going to be an unpleasant experience. Write code that reads easily rather than writing huge comments to explain things. – Benbob Dec 10 '10 at 02:19
I actually find commenting quite enjoyable. Sometimes I put important comments in neat little boxes made of asterisks and slashes. Then again, I'm a freak. – Maxpm Dec 16 '10 at 05:10
2

I enjoy writing comments too, but you wouldn’t want to see my bathroom. – Timwi Dec 26 '10 at 12:48
I was at a washroom once where there were really long-winded comments all over about how and why you should keep the washroom clean. It wasn't clean. – Rei Miyasaka Jun 19 '11 at 22:08

score 39 · Answer 25 · answered Sep 04 '10 at 19:23

39

Unicode support is not a “feature”. It is expected behaviour.

Granted, it is very specific, but it is my favourite because obsolete character sets are just too widely used still...

answered Sep 04 '10 at 19:23

Timwi

4,411
29
37

3

Now you just have to argue about which unicode – Martin Beckett Dec 26 '10 at 02:18
@Martin: Not really, because conversion between the various kinds is lossless. – Billy ONeal Jan 27 '11 at 23:38
Aargh the pain! Why do I have to argue with a client that no, we can't "just" switch our whole infrastructure to Latin-1 to make it infinitesimally more convenient for him? "After all, nobody around *here* uses those weird special characters; can't be so hard, right?" – Piskvor left the building Feb 08 '11 at 09:34

score 38 · Answer 26 · edited Oct 11 '10 at 16:11

38

The fool wonders, the wise man asks.
— Benjamin Disraeli

edited Oct 11 '10 at 16:11

answered Sep 01 '10 at 20:20

Dan Dyer

3,546
2
23
20

[Made](http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/39/whats-your-favourite-quote-about-programming/10451#10451) [one](http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/39/whats-your-favourite-quote-about-programming/10452#10452) [per-answer.](http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/39/whats-your-favourite-quote-about-programming/10453#10453) – Oct 08 '10 at 11:27
@TomWij: See my comment from when I edited this, these quotes have been split into separate answers. – Oct 11 '10 at 16:11

score 35 · Answer 27 · edited Oct 08 '10 at 11:34

35

Programming is like sex: one mistake and you have to support it for the rest of your life.
— Michael Sinz

edited Oct 08 '10 at 11:34

answered Sep 01 '10 at 20:19

Agent_9191

1,573
11
18

score 34 · Answer 28 · edited Jun 16 '20 at 10:01

34

Il semble que la perfection soit atteinte non quand il n'y a plus rien à ajouter, mais quand il n'y a plus rien à retrancher.
— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French writer (1900-1944), Terre des Hommes (1939)

(It would seem that perfection is attained not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.)

edited Jun 16 '20 at 10:01

Community

1

answered Sep 09 '10 at 02:50

Bill Karwin

1,511
13
22

And it is also valid for music – Heinz Z. Oct 11 '10 at 13:35
2

[Perfection Is](http://web.archive.org/web/20070821042058/mpt.net.nz/archive/2006/11/27/perfection) – David Kendal Jan 19 '11 at 01:43
2

@David Kendal: Nice! Similarly, Henry David Thoreau said, "Simplify, Simplify." Which always makes me think, "Simplify." – Bill Karwin Jan 27 '11 at 21:37

score 33 · Answer 29 · edited Oct 11 '10 at 14:06

33

Java is to JavaScript as car is to carpet.
— Chris Heilmann

edited Oct 11 '10 at 14:06

answered Sep 10 '10 at 06:54

Bill Karwin

1,511
13
22

There is carpet in my car, so there is Javascript in Java? – Benbob Dec 10 '10 at 02:26
1

@Keyo: Yeah, I thought of that take on it. I still think the quote is really clever. – Bill Karwin Dec 10 '10 at 04:00

score 31 · Answer 30 · edited Jun 16 '20 at 10:01

31

As formulated by Eric S. Raymond:

Linus's Law

Given a large enough beta-tester and co-developer base, almost every problem will be characterized quickly and the fix obvious to someone.

Or, less formally,

Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow.

edited Jun 16 '20 at 10:01

Community

1

answered Sep 01 '10 at 20:43

sounds a bit like the monkey / typewriter rule to me... – Sean Patrick Floyd Nov 12 '10 at 10:07
Why do Linux enthusiasts seem to spend more time repeating this quote than fixing the bugs? – Timwi Dec 26 '10 at 12:55
Or, Atwood's slogan for StackOverflow, "None of us is as dumb as all of us". See http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2008/09/stack-overflow-none-of-us-is-as-dumb-as-all-of-us.html – Evan Plaice Jan 12 '11 at 00:37

score 30 · Answer 31 · edited Oct 08 '10 at 11:35

30

Should array indices start at 0 or 1? My compromise of 0.5 was rejected without, I thought, proper consideration.
— Stan Kelly-Bootle

edited Oct 08 '10 at 11:35

answered Sep 07 '10 at 02:16

pramodc84

1,803
23
23

score 30 · Answer 32 · answered Sep 02 '10 at 19:06

30

There are 10 kinds of people in the world — those who understand binary and those who don't.

answered Sep 02 '10 at 19:06

g .

707
6
12

12

and those who confuse it with ternary – eds Sep 04 '10 at 01:30
51

Every base is base 10. – Larry Wang Sep 04 '10 at 03:10
You only have 10 votes for this? Lame :) – Doug T. Sep 13 '10 at 14:12
4

10 in what base? – MIA Sep 21 '10 at 22:37
¡ pick ur base ! – Jhonny D. Cano -Leftware- Sep 24 '10 at 18:11
@Larry: Then what about base 1? ;) – g.f Sep 27 '10 at 17:28
@g.f, base 1 isn't possible. – Malfist Sep 27 '10 at 20:42
2

@Malfist: [Click.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-standard_positional_numeral_systems#Base_one_.28unary_numeral_system.29) – g.f Sep 28 '10 at 21:55
@g.f, ok, but it's implementation is broken – Dominique McDonnell Oct 25 '10 at 02:51
there are 10 kinds of people , those who understand ternary , those who don't and those who keep saying this joke every where :) . – Ahmed Kotb Oct 27 '10 at 22:16
2

all your base 10 are belong to us – Sean Patrick Floyd Nov 12 '10 at 10:08
1

@Malfist: Yes it is. 0 = 0, 00 = 1, 000 = 2, 0000 = 3 – Kevin Laity Dec 09 '10 at 23:04
2

@g.f, @Kevin: There is no such thing as “base 1”. The number system demonstrated by Kevin, which is often referred to as “base 1” or “unary”, is not a number base (but an entirely different notation). By definition, if “base 1” existed, it would only have the digit 0, and all numbers would be `sum(0*1^n)`, i.e., 0. – Timwi Dec 26 '10 at 12:52
@Timwi: Did you follow the link above? Apparently opinions are divided about it - as soon as all mathematicians agree wether `0` belongs to `N` or not we might unify that too. – g.f Dec 26 '10 at 15:17
@g.f is not a question of maths, it's a question of naming. In any case, it's not a positional numbering system. – paradoja Dec 26 '10 at 17:21

score 30 · Answer 33 · edited Sep 27 '10 at 15:19

30

Keep it simple, stupid!

— The KISS principle

edited Sep 27 '10 at 15:19

Tamara Wijsman

8,259
14
58
94

answered Sep 01 '10 at 20:16

Wizard79

7,327
2
41
76

1

Is that specifically a programming quote? – Peter Coulton Sep 10 '10 at 19:22
5

No, it's a generally-applicable engineering principle. – Mason Wheeler Sep 13 '10 at 00:01

score 29 · Answer 34 · edited Jun 16 '20 at 10:01

29

Being a good software engineer is 3% talent, 97% not being distracted by the internet.

— Unknown, appropriated

edited Jun 16 '20 at 10:01

Community

1

answered Oct 24 '10 at 09:43

doppelgreener

1,274
17
26

5

That's not true at -- d'oh! – Steve Melnikoff Oct 26 '10 at 15:25
4

...and 1% avoiding [fence post errors](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fencepost_error#Fencepost_error). – Oct 28 '10 at 02:35

score 29 · Answer 35 · edited Oct 08 '10 at 11:28

29

A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it.
— Albert Einstein

edited Oct 08 '10 at 11:28

answered Sep 01 '10 at 20:52

Phil Cohen

646
5
7

5

**Programming** quote? – Jonas Sep 02 '10 at 09:06
22

This quote is very relevant to programming – finnw Sep 06 '10 at 03:16

score 28 · Answer 36 · edited Oct 08 '10 at 11:35

28

A computer is a stupid machine with the ability to do incredibly smart things, while computer programmers are smart people with the ability to do incredibly stupid things. They are, in short, a perfect match.
— Bill Bryson

edited Oct 08 '10 at 11:35

answered Sep 09 '10 at 01:22

Maniero

10,826
14
80
133

score 25 · Answer 37 · answered Sep 09 '10 at 12:27

25

If you want to set off and go develop some grand new thing, you don't need millions of dollars of capitalization. You need enough pizza and Diet Coke to stick in your refrigerator, a cheap PC to work on and the dedication to go through with it.
— John Carmack

answered Sep 09 '10 at 12:27

Yep greatest quote I think so far, especially since Carmack showed multiple times (Commander Keen, Wolfenstein, Doom, Quake, etc) how to do it :) – Nils Jan 20 '11 at 10:03
@nils, one word: Daikatana :ducks: – Vivian River Jun 20 '11 at 14:02

score 25 · Answer 38 · edited Sep 27 '10 at 17:35

25

Testing can only prove the presence of bugs, not their absence.

— Edsger W. Dijkstra

edited Sep 27 '10 at 17:35

g.f

111
6

answered Sep 09 '10 at 16:00

Nikolai Prokoschenko

445
1
4
13

... so let’s not bother! :) – Timwi Dec 26 '10 at 12:58

score 25 · Answer 39 · edited Sep 27 '10 at 17:32

25

What's the simplest thing that could possibly work?

— Ward Cunningham

edited Sep 27 '10 at 17:32

g.f

111
6

answered Sep 01 '10 at 23:16

Walter

16,158
8
58
95

I was once at a programming competition, and time was almost up, and we couldn't get our last program to compile. So, in desperation, we deleted the bits that wouldn't compile, and ran the program. And it worked. Perfectly. To this day I have no explanation for how this could be the case because, by our measure, the part that we deleted was the part that was supposed to be doing the work. – Satanicpuppy Jun 20 '11 at 21:25

score 25 · Answer 40 · edited Sep 27 '10 at 15:19

25

All problems in computer science can be solved by another level of indirection... Except for the problem of too many layers of indirection.

— David Wheeler

edited Sep 27 '10 at 15:19

Tamara Wijsman

8,259
14
58
94

answered Sep 05 '10 at 11:17

Stephen C

25,180
6
64
87

score 23 · Answer 41 · answered Sep 08 '10 at 23:28

23

I don't care if it works on your machine! We are not shipping your machine!

-- Vidiu Platon (whoever that is)

answered Sep 08 '10 at 23:28

mawtex

101
4

First see http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/39/whats-your-favourite-programming-quote/1456#1456 – Bert F Sep 08 '10 at 23:42
Yeah, I've put this badge on at least one project: http://codinghorror.typepad.com/.a/6a0120a85dcdae970b0128776ff992970c-pi – J.T. Grimes Oct 13 '10 at 23:49

Maniero · Answer 42 · 2010-09-26T21:11:53.343

23

When all you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail

edited Sep 26 '10 at 21:11

answered Sep 09 '10 at 01:34

Maniero

10,826
14
80
133

1

Attributed to Abraham Maslow (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/if_all_you_have_is_a_hammer,_everything_looks_like_a_nail) – Bill Karwin Sep 09 '10 at 18:05
This quote is true, but many times the converse is also true: until you have a hammer, nails are an unsolvable problem. – Dan Rosenstark Dec 26 '10 at 07:35
1

@Yar Turn your pliers sideways. – Mark C Mar 02 '11 at 21:19
Thanks @Mark C that worked, but now the program quits with no stacktrace... – Dan Rosenstark Mar 05 '11 at 08:13
@Yar If enough of the nail is sticking out, you can pull it out with your pliers. Not all hammers have a notched end, and some nails can't be pulled out like that (so you need a nail pull). – Mark C Mar 05 '11 at 16:22

score 23 · Answer 43 · edited Jun 16 '20 at 10:01

23

There are two major products that come out of Berkeley: LSD and UNIX. We don't believe this to be a coincidence.

Jeremy S. Anderson

edited Jun 16 '20 at 10:01

Community

1

answered Sep 02 '10 at 17:58

Federico klez Culloca

3,092
24
24

Splitted as asked – Federico klez Culloca Sep 02 '10 at 17:58
3

This quote is wrong. Just wrong. See http://web.morons.org/feature/rants/bsdlsd.jsp – imgx64 Sep 22 '10 at 03:00
3

That's a shame because it's a great phrase. – Neil Aitken Sep 29 '10 at 11:26
2

@Neil: "If 'accurate' isn't a requirement, I could write an arbitrarily great phrase," to paraphrase another quote. :) – Oct 11 '10 at 16:08
2

What exactly is LSD? – hasen Nov 12 '10 at 10:19
1

@hasen j, it's that little thing resembling a postmark you're holding under your tongue. – Federico klez Culloca Nov 13 '10 at 19:27
2

@hasen j, Traditionally, pounds, shillings, and pence, but nowadays a hallucinogen. – TRiG Dec 01 '10 at 18:45
@hasen j: ++ for having the humility to ask that – John Jan 21 '11 at 17:53
I still don't understand what it is. Seriously, if it's something well known in your culture, don't just assume that every one in the world knows what it is. – hasen Jan 22 '11 at 00:17
@hasen j, it's an hallucynogen – Federico klez Culloca Jan 22 '11 at 09:15
@hasen j, see above for the answer. anyway I didn't think LSD was so little known. That's why I was joking. Don't take it personally ;-) – Federico klez Culloca Jan 22 '11 at 10:02
not helping ... – hasen Jan 22 '11 at 15:08
2

@hasen j, I give up, use wikipedia please... – Federico klez Culloca Jan 23 '11 at 14:52

score 21 · Answer 44 · answered Sep 09 '10 at 12:27

21

Good code is its own best documentation. As you're about to add a comment, ask yourself, 'How can I improve the code so that this comment isn't needed?' Improve the code and then document it to make it even clearer.

-Steve McConnell

answered Sep 09 '10 at 12:27

Giel

259
2
4

score 21 · Answer 45 · answered Sep 10 '10 at 00:39

21

There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies.

— C.A.R. Hoare

answered Sep 10 '10 at 00:39

Lorin Hochstein

637
3
13

score 20 · Answer 46 · edited Oct 10 '10 at 19:26

20

A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any invention in human history—with the possible exceptions of handguns and tequila.
— Mitch Ratcliffe

edited Oct 10 '10 at 19:26

answered Oct 08 '10 at 13:35

ncardeli

101
4

1

I had a specific answer in mind for my bounty originally, but I discovered you can't apply them instantly! So I let it runs its course, and even though there's about a day left, this is my favorite answer from the past week. One I'd heard before, but never knew who said it. Thanks! – Oct 14 '10 at 00:42
@RogerP: What was your specific answer? Is it in the big thread? – Mark C Oct 21 '10 at 05:44
@Mark: http://tinyurl.com/knuth-premature – Oct 21 '10 at 05:56
*@RogerP*: You are too easy, trying to give bounties for answers you already know! – Mark C Oct 21 '10 at 06:29

Martin Wickman · Answer 47 · 2011-07-07T13:58:29.490

19

There, it should work now.

— All programmers

edited Jul 07 '11 at 13:58

answered Oct 24 '10 at 11:56

Martin Wickman

13,305
3
31
66

score 19 · Answer 48 · answered Sep 22 '10 at 18:41

19

A programmer is a device for turning caffeine into code.

(Not original to me, but associated with me through appearances on DotNetRocks etc. Lifted from a Usenet sig, I long ago forgot whose, which was no doubt inspired by Paul Erdos.)

answered Sep 22 '10 at 18:41

Kate Gregory

17,465
2
50
84

Erdõs -- indeed! My grandfather (who knew him!) was fond of the one about mathematicians and coffee. – Michael H. Sep 23 '10 at 17:54
@khedron: Ahem. It’s Erdős, not Erdõs. – Timwi Dec 26 '10 at 12:59
@Timwi: My apologies! – Michael H. Jan 26 '11 at 16:35

score 18 · Answer 49 · edited Dec 15 '10 at 23:17

18

A programmer started to cuss
Because getting to sleep was a fuss
As he lay there in bed
Looping 'round in his head
was: while(!asleep()) sheep++;

Not quite a quote as such, but I little limerick I've always liked.

Source piercings - bash.org/?845468

edited Dec 15 '10 at 23:17

Svish

1,092
8
14

answered Sep 06 '10 at 14:41

Simon P Stevens

1,906
14
20

quite brilliant! – NickAldwin Sep 08 '10 at 23:54
Limerick fans should also check out http://poetry.about.com/od/poetryplay/l/blwakawaka.htm – Tyler Jul 07 '11 at 17:35

score 18 · Answer 50 · edited Oct 11 '10 at 13:09

18

Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not tried it.
— Donald Knuth

edited Oct 11 '10 at 13:09

answered Sep 10 '10 at 12:17

Asgeir S. Nilsen

123
5

score 18 · Answer 51 · edited Oct 11 '10 at 16:04

18

You wanted a banana but what you got was a gorilla holding the banana and the entire jungle.
— Joe Armstrong on object-oriented programming

edited Oct 11 '10 at 16:04

answered Sep 02 '10 at 07:10

Jonas

14,867
9
69
102

2

Still laughing... |) – AareP Dec 16 '10 at 19:00
wouldn't that be more true of VMs ? – Martin Beckett Dec 26 '10 at 02:24
The term 'OO' was invented by Smalltalkers, and Smalltalk runs on a VM and is often deployed as a VM image. – 9000 Dec 26 '10 at 19:20

score 18 · Answer 52 · answered Sep 22 '10 at 17:06

18

Any fool can write code that a computer can understand. Good programmers write code that humans can understand.

Martin Fowler (in his book Refactoring)

answered Sep 22 '10 at 17:06

Jonik

240
1
8

score 17 · Answer 53 · answered Oct 10 '10 at 23:03

17

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

-- Arthur C. Clarke

answered Oct 10 '10 at 23:03

Don Roby

1,395
11
14

4

"Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology" — Larry Niven. – Joe D Oct 24 '10 at 16:26
2

"Any technology which is distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced." (Can't remember.) – TRiG Dec 01 '10 at 18:53
"Any sufficiently advanced being can distinguish technology from magic." – Timwi Dec 26 '10 at 13:03
Any sufficiently advanced being cannot tell magic from technology. – Antsan Jan 20 '11 at 20:41
2

Sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice. – Glen Solsberry Jan 27 '11 at 21:56

score 17 · Answer 54 · answered Sep 28 '10 at 23:09

17

My old answer from SO:

If the code and the comments disagree, then both are probably wrong.

Another good website: "Quotes about Tech Writing"

answered Sep 28 '10 at 23:09

FrankS

101
7

So you need code, comments, and something else? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_modular_redundancy – Rei Miyasaka Dec 28 '10 at 01:42

score 14 · Answer 55 · answered Sep 09 '10 at 00:23

14

To understand recursion, you first need to understand recursion

answered Sep 09 '10 at 00:23

Maniero

10,826
14
80
133

score 13 · Answer 56 · edited Oct 12 '10 at 21:23

13

On the seventh day, God said, "Ship it! We'll release patches later."
— Josh Flachsbart

edited Oct 12 '10 at 21:23

answered Oct 12 '10 at 04:43

Michael H.

151
6

score 13 · Answer 57 · answered Sep 09 '10 at 12:11

13

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled."

-Richard Feynman (Rogers' Commission Report into the Challenger Crash, Appendix F - Personal Observations on Reliability of Shuttle)

More succinctly:

"You can't lie to the compiler."

-Andrew Stevenson

answered Sep 09 '10 at 12:11

A M

1
3

...or at least if you *do* lie to the compiler, it will get its revenge. – Jerry Coffin Sep 12 '10 at 22:40
5

That story still galls me. Imagine that, Dr. Richard Feynman, according to the book I read, had to *threaten to withhold his signature* unless his account of the accident was included in the official report. It was included as an appendix, so as to say, "The official investigation is over, and now here is some speculation from this eccentric." – Mark C Sep 28 '10 at 12:59

score 13 · Answer 58 · edited Sep 27 '10 at 15:19

13

Software is like sex: it's better when it's free.

— Linus Torvalds

edited Sep 27 '10 at 15:19

Tamara Wijsman

8,259
14
58
94

answered Sep 01 '10 at 21:45

Federico klez Culloca

3,092
24
24

9

Can you split this in two different answers so that they can be voted independently? – Wizard79 Sep 02 '10 at 07:36
8

The real question is, how did Linus come to find this out? – Kieran Senior Sep 29 '10 at 14:49
[citation needed] :-) – Stefano Palazzo Oct 24 '10 at 20:28
@Stefano Palazzo: Read his autobiography "Just For Fun". Oh, and in case you meant the "sex is better when it's free"-part...ahm...that's OT here. ;) – Bobby Oct 29 '10 at 08:51
When i wrote this comment, this answer was a completely different one: see revisions. (It used to read "There are two major products that come out of Berkeley: LSD and UNIX. We don't believe this to be a coincidence.") – isn't it quite bad form to write and answer, which gets voted up, and change it completely, even when it's community wiki? – Stefano Palazzo Nov 01 '10 at 23:11
I was asked to split it, so it's not completely my fault :P. Moreover, most of the upvotes came after the split. More-moreover it was already split when you posted that comment, as you can see in "Last edit Sep 27" :P . – Federico klez Culloca Nov 02 '10 at 17:27
Well commenting here doesn't seem to be *thread safe*. :-) Sorry for the confusion. – Stefano Palazzo Nov 20 '10 at 14:46
4

Software is like sex because it's never *really* free. – Darel Jan 20 '11 at 19:39

score 12 · Answer 59 · edited Sep 27 '10 at 17:33

12

The real question is not whether machines think but whether men do.

— B. F. Skinner

Related more to AI than to simple programming, but I still like it.

edited Sep 27 '10 at 17:33

g.f

111
6

answered Sep 01 '10 at 20:32

murgatroid99

481
5
12

score 11 · Answer 60 · answered Oct 08 '10 at 12:19

11

The difficulty of a bug can be measured as the distance, in lines of code, from the cause of a bug to the visible symptom of a bug.

The Klophaus Equation of Bug Difficulty

answered Oct 08 '10 at 12:19

The problem is that you don't know how difficult a bug is until you find it. – Mark C Mar 02 '11 at 21:39

score 11 · Answer 61 · edited Oct 11 '10 at 14:03

Relationship between length and quality

If you want me to give you a two-hour presentation, I am ready today. If you want only a five-minute speech, it will take me two weeks to prepare.
— Mark Twain

The shortest version:

If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.
— Marcus T. Cicero

The near-perfectionist's version:

You know that I write slowly. This is chiefly because I am never satisfied until I have said as much as possible in a few words, and writing briefly takes far more time than writing at length.
— Karl Friedrich Gauss

Several more discuss this concept from various angles.

score 11 · Answer 62 · answered Oct 13 '10 at 19:55

11

Crockford is the sole user of the super-strict equality operator (====), which either returns true or kicks you in the balls.

answered Oct 13 '10 at 19:55

Harmen

101
4

score 11 · Answer 63 · edited Dec 26 '10 at 04:52

11

Not really a programming quote, more of an IT one, but one that my A-Level IT teacher drummed into me aged 16:

Typing is no substitute for Thinking

edited Dec 26 '10 at 04:52

I82Much

244
2
5

answered Sep 09 '10 at 08:24

Tom Morgan

1,689
9
15

3

Admirably ambiguous. – Randall Schulz Sep 22 '10 at 17:49
That comment is ambiguous,hence admirable :P – lightsong May 15 '11 at 11:03

score 10 · Answer 64 · edited Dec 16 '10 at 16:41

10

A good algorithm is like a sharp knife - it does exactly what it is supposed to do with a minimum amount of applied effort. Using the wrong algorithm to solve a problem is trying to cut a steak with a screwdriver: you may eventually get a digestible result, but you will expend considerable more effort than necessary, and the result is unlikely to be aesthetically pleasing.

edited Dec 16 '10 at 16:41

Svish

1,092
8
14

answered Sep 09 '10 at 01:19

fR0DDY

101
4

3

A mouthful, but good. Like steak! – webbiedave Oct 12 '10 at 22:01

score 10 · Answer 65 · edited Dec 16 '10 at 16:44

10

Open source is free only if your time costs nothing

Heard it from a guy I worked with. Don't know who came up with this.

edited Dec 16 '10 at 16:44

Svish

1,092
8
14

answered Sep 27 '10 at 08:43

Hila

1,332
8
15

1

That's not so true, though. – Mark C Sep 28 '10 at 12:37
@Mark Why? (ps. it's a translation from Hebrew, and "free" is translated from a word that means "at no charge" and not "liberated/released/etc"). – Hila Sep 28 '10 at 14:50
I doesn't seem true because skilled programmers take on open source projects in their spare time, even though they could be working on extra "paid" projects instead. – Mark C Sep 28 '10 at 19:21
1

@Mark That's not what I meant... This quote is about the misconception that choosing an open source product over a commercial one is better because you don't have to pay for license (use, not develop). This is stupid, of course, since most of the time whatever you saved in licences you pay in programmer time due to lack of support and/or using products that are not good enough. There *are* good reasons to use OS. License price, I think, is not one of them. – Hila Sep 28 '10 at 19:46
Oh, I'm sorry. It seemed like it was talking about the programmers! This is along the lines of what you are saying: http://blog.bitquabit.com/2009/06/30/one-which-i-say-open-source-software-sucks/ – Mark C Sep 28 '10 at 20:52
@Mark Nice! What is this blog? – Hila Sep 28 '10 at 21:26
You're welcome! It is the blog of a Fog Creek developer, and it is where I read this article: http://blog.bitquabit.com/2009/07/01/one-which-i-call-out-hacker-news/ – Mark C Sep 28 '10 at 21:34
@Mark *panics* Where is the posts RSS?! – Hila Sep 28 '10 at 21:58
I don't use RSS, but I think you're trying to get a feed from that page. Try this: http://profy.com/2007/09/30/7-tools-to-make-an-rss-feed-of-any-website/ – Mark C Sep 28 '10 at 22:22
@Mark I know these services, I was hoping for built in option. – Hila Sep 28 '10 at 22:26
1

My quote file attributes this to JWZ. – Michael H. Oct 01 '10 at 21:03

score 9 · Answer 66 · answered Oct 21 '10 at 09:30

9

A normal person believes a kilobyte is 1000 bytes, a coder believes a kilometer is 1024 meters.

-Unknown

answered Oct 21 '10 at 09:30

Chris-Top

111
3

score 9 · Answer 67 · answered Oct 23 '10 at 18:49

9

C++: an octopus made by nailing extra legs onto a dog.

answered Oct 23 '10 at 18:49

score 9 · Answer 68 · answered Oct 24 '10 at 15:11

It should be noted that no ethically-trained software engineer would ever consent to write a DestroyBaghdad procedure. Basic professional ethics would instead require him to write a DestroyCity procedure, to which Baghdad could be given as a parameter.

Nathaniel Borenstein

score 9 · Answer 69 · answered Sep 09 '10 at 12:34

9

Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
— Pablo Picasso

answered Sep 09 '10 at 12:34

1

Considering Picasso died in 1973, I'm highly doubtful that he actually said this.. – Billy ONeal Jan 27 '11 at 23:20
"The first electronic computers were developed in the mid-20th century (1940–1945)" and Intel was already creating CPUs in 1971 (Intel 4004). So it doesn't make it impossible. – POSIX_ME_HARDER Feb 25 '11 at 16:22
@Billy There was a lot of talk amongst academics about the possibilities of computers at the time. – Rei Miyasaka Jun 19 '11 at 22:23

score 9 · Answer 70 · edited Jan 27 '11 at 21:32

9

A few months writing code can save you a few hours in design.

Which is modified from:

A few months in the laboratory can save you a few hours in the library.

edited Jan 27 '11 at 21:32

Fred Nurk

845
6
11

answered Sep 22 '10 at 17:13

Steven Evers

28,200
10
75
159

what does it mean by that ??? – Sarawut Positwinyu Jul 07 '11 at 03:41
@Sarawut Positwinyu: It's a backwards way of saying 'do your research before doing your work'. – Steven Evers Jul 07 '11 at 12:25

score 9 · Answer 71 · answered Oct 02 '10 at 00:03

9

Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one. - Bill Gates

The problem with quick and dirty...is that dirty remains long after quick has been forgotten. - Steve C McConnell

My site SoftwareQuotes.com is full of quotations about programming and software development.

answered Oct 02 '10 at 00:03

Imageree

101
3

1

I'm pretty sure it wasn't Bill Gates who made that quote – Terence Ponce Oct 02 '10 at 04:37
I remember it being attributed to him, along with a bunch of others that shouldn't be. Who was it? – Rei Miyasaka Dec 28 '10 at 01:57

score 8 · Answer 72 · answered Oct 10 '10 at 19:27

8

Why fix an old bug if you can write three new ones in the same time?

— David Kastrup

answered Oct 10 '10 at 19:27

Joe D

676
1
5
13

score 8 · Answer 73 · edited Mar 09 '17 at 18:04

8

edited Mar 09 '17 at 18:04

Community

1

answered Sep 01 '10 at 20:14

Hannibal

111
2

Can you fix this so we don't have to click the link to see the quote please? – Paddyslacker Sep 06 '10 at 06:47
http://delphi.org/2008/09/the-worst-thing-about-delphi/ – Mason Wheeler Sep 09 '10 at 23:43
xkcd has some great stuff, but this is below average. – Oct 08 '10 at 11:33

score 7 · Answer 74 · edited Oct 10 '10 at 19:25

7

Real Programmers don't comment their code. If it was hard to write, it should be hard to understand.
— Tom Van Vleck

edited Oct 10 '10 at 19:25

answered Oct 09 '10 at 21:07

Karel Petranek

239
1
4

5

It's called code for a reason :) – Rook Oct 10 '10 at 21:42
While I love this quote, I tend to find the people maintaining my code disagree with it :) – Neil Aitken Nov 01 '10 at 15:18

score 7 · Answer 75 · edited Oct 10 '10 at 19:23

7

Anyone attempting to produce random numbers by purely arithmetic means is, of course, in a state of sin.
— John von Neumann

edited Oct 10 '10 at 19:23

answered Oct 09 '10 at 22:11

Charles E. Grant

16,612
1
46
73

score 7 · Answer 76 · answered Oct 13 '10 at 09:09

7

Those who try to build idiot-proof systems always underestimate the persistence and ingenuity of idiots.

— Anon

answered Oct 13 '10 at 09:09

spookylukey

101
3

score 7 · Answer 77 · edited Sep 22 '10 at 02:13

7

Quoting Kent Beck:

Make It Work
Make It Right
Make It Fast

edited Sep 22 '10 at 02:13

ahsteele

788
1
9
23

answered Sep 01 '10 at 21:20

systempuntoout

3,545
3
29
33

1

Pick 2............ – WalterJ89 Oct 07 '10 at 16:45
2

Whew! For a minute there I thought you had written *"Glenn"* Beck... ;-) – MikeSchinkel Dec 04 '10 at 10:51

score 7 · Answer 78 · answered Dec 13 '10 at 09:22

7

One accurate measurement is worth more than a thousand expert opinions.

Admiral Grace Hopper

answered Dec 13 '10 at 09:22

Branimir

554
4
8

score 7 · Answer 79 · edited Sep 22 '10 at 02:10

7

... one of the main causes of the fall of the Roman Empire was that, lacking zero, they had no way to indicate successful termination of their C programs.

-- Robert Firth

edited Sep 22 '10 at 02:10

ahsteele

788
1
9
23

answered Sep 22 '10 at 01:47

Michael H.

151
6

score 6 · Answer 80 · edited Oct 10 '10 at 19:22

6

Every time I ask developers why their shiny new C# .NET version isn't nearly as fast and smooth as the old C/C++ version, I'm thinking of:

The most amazing achievement of the computer software industry is its continuing cancellation of the steady and staggering gains made by the computer hardware industry.
— Henry Petroski

But they just tell me to shut up while they plaster on yet another level of abstraction...

edited Oct 10 '10 at 19:22

answered Oct 10 '10 at 19:00

timday

2,502
1
18
17

Anders Hejlsberg also has a quote, which I don't remember in his exact words, that the goal of a language is to *add* layers of abstraction, not to move the window of abstraction upwards. You simply don't agree with the design goals of the platform. – Rei Miyasaka Dec 28 '10 at 01:55

score 6 · Answer 81 · answered Oct 13 '10 at 21:47

6

Programming is one of the most difficult branches of applied mathematics; the poorer mathematicians had better remain pure mathematicians

— Edsger W. Dijkstra

answered Oct 13 '10 at 21:47

Ryszard Szopa

1,810
12
11

I find that incredibly pompous. – Mark C Oct 21 '10 at 05:39
13

@Mark: "You probably know that arrogance, in computer science, is measured in nanodijkstras." — Alan Kay, keynote speech at OOPSLA 1997 – Oct 22 '10 at 18:40
@RogerP Ah yes, I had forgotten that one. – Mark C Oct 22 '10 at 20:58
"Programmers are bozos" -- my high school math teacher. – Rei Miyasaka Jun 19 '11 at 22:29

score 6 · Answer 82 · answered Oct 13 '10 at 23:05

6

"The complexity you remove can never fail" -- Burt Rutan on the Ansari X Prize

answered Oct 13 '10 at 23:05

score 6 · Answer 83 · edited Sep 22 '10 at 02:09

6

I am one of those culprits who created the problem. I used to write those programs back in the '60s and '70s, and was so proud of the fact that I was able to squeeze a few elements of space by not having to put '19' before the year.

-- Alan Greenspan, former Federal Reserve chair

edited Sep 22 '10 at 02:09

ahsteele

788
1
9
23

answered Sep 22 '10 at 01:48

Michael H.

151
6

score 6 · Answer 84 · answered Sep 22 '10 at 17:28

6

How do we convince people that in programming simplicity and clarity—in short: what mathematicians call "elegance"—are not a dispensable luxury, but a crucial matter that decides between success and failure?

— Edsger W. Dijkstra

answered Sep 22 '10 at 17:28

Jonik

240
1
8

Props to the guy who [posted](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/58640/great-programming-quotes/75903#75903) this on SO – Jonik Sep 22 '10 at 17:29
Answer: The same way you convince people that simplicity and clarity are essential to good writing! – Mark C Sep 28 '10 at 12:49

score 6 · Answer 85 · edited Sep 22 '10 at 17:45

6

A beautiful program is like a beautiful theorem: It does the job elegantly. It has a simple and perspicuous structure; people say, “Oh, yes. I see that’s the way to do it.”

-- Butler Lampson

edited Sep 22 '10 at 17:45

Jonik

240
1
8

answered Sep 22 '10 at 17:30

score 5 · Answer 86 · edited Oct 11 '10 at 14:04

5

Not really about programming, but...

You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.
— Jack London

edited Oct 11 '10 at 14:04

answered Oct 08 '10 at 11:49

Tony

1,154
1
8
11

score 5 · Answer 87 · edited Oct 11 '10 at 13:59

5

It's not about programming per se, but by a famous programmer:

The best way to predict the future is to invent it.
— Alan Kay

Which is usually a good thing to remind myself to get moving and do things.

edited Oct 11 '10 at 13:59

answered Oct 11 '10 at 08:52

haylem

28,856
10
103
119

score 5 · Answer 88 · edited Oct 28 '10 at 02:38

5

Kurzfristige Hacks tendieren dazu, langfristige Lösungen zu werden.
— Bodo Tasche

Translated: Current hacks tend to be long-term solutions.

edited Oct 28 '10 at 02:38

answered Oct 21 '10 at 09:40

ckuetbach

168
5

score 5 · Answer 89 · answered Oct 25 '10 at 03:43

5

Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.

-- Albert Einstein (for me, via Scott Myers). Emphasis added.

answered Oct 25 '10 at 03:43

Michael Easter

529
5
12

I know the question says one quote per answer, but I'm starting to think grouping similar topics (e.g. this with KISS) would be better. – Oct 29 '10 at 07:43

helgeg · Answer 90 · 2010-09-09T12:22:16.300

5

"It worked on MY computer!" -anon

"Programs must be written for people to read, and only incidentally for machines to execute." - Abelson and Sussman, from "The structure and interpretation of computer programs"

edited Sep 09 '10 at 12:22

answered Sep 08 '10 at 22:34

helgeg

676
3
9

http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/39/whats-your-favourite-programming-quote/1523#1523 – Bert F Sep 08 '10 at 23:41

score 5 · Answer 91 · edited Oct 29 '10 at 08:51

5

A language that doesn't have everything is actually easier to program in than some that do.
— Dennis M. Ritchie

edited Oct 29 '10 at 08:51

answered Oct 29 '10 at 08:35

Chankey Pathak

3,249
28
32

1

Java is getting there. – aaaaaaaaaaaa Dec 13 '10 at 12:20

score 5 · Answer 92 · answered Sep 09 '10 at 01:29

5

The best code is no code at all

answered Sep 09 '10 at 01:29

Maniero

10,826
14
80
133

Butterflies!... – WalterJ89 Oct 07 '10 at 16:46
1

I think that's a corruption of the Taligent marketing catchphrase "there is no code faster than no code". – Oct 23 '10 at 19:48

score 5 · Answer 93 · edited Oct 11 '10 at 16:27

5

There is always one more bug.
— Lubarsky's Law of Cybernetic Entomology

edited Oct 11 '10 at 16:27

answered Sep 02 '10 at 04:30

Gaurav

567
5
14

score 5 · Answer 94 · answered Sep 27 '10 at 08:43

Programmers are optimists by nature, they also have a keen eye for the downside. A hyperactive imagination for disaster scenarios is a professional asset; they have to think through everything that can go wrong in order to practice their craft.

-- Scott Rosenberg

Gordon · Answer 95 · 2010-09-04T10:35:23.883

5

The art of simplicity is a puzzle of complexity.

Doug Horton

edited Sep 04 '10 at 10:35

answered Sep 04 '10 at 09:35

Gordon

4,124
26
45

score 4 · Answer 96 · answered Oct 08 '10 at 11:26

4

Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.
— Dwight D. Eisenhower

answered Oct 08 '10 at 11:26

Ah, yes, the difference between plans and planning! Excellent! – Mark C Oct 21 '10 at 05:49

score 4 · Answer 97 · answered Oct 08 '10 at 12:31

4

My favourites have already been posted, so here's something I thought of one day at work:

In Soviet Russia, exception throws YOU!!

answered Oct 08 '10 at 12:31

dr Hannibal Lecter

3,282
1
26
25

1

I can almost hear the russian accent in my head. – Terence Ponce Oct 08 '10 at 15:49
1

In Soviet Russia, boss give orders YOU! – Mark C Oct 10 '10 at 19:53
2

In Soviet Russia, bug fixes you. – Arkaaito Oct 14 '10 at 07:22

score 4 · Answer 98 · edited Oct 11 '10 at 13:13

4

Einstein argued that there must be simplified explanations of nature, because God is not capricious or arbitrary. No such faith comforts the software engineer.
— Fred Brooks, "No Silver Bullet"

edited Oct 11 '10 at 13:13

answered Oct 10 '10 at 22:26

Gerry

207
1
6

score 4 · Answer 99 · edited Oct 11 '10 at 22:35

From my first programming class (FORTRAN IV):

What is a computer?
It it a box with a little man in it.
This man is blazing fast. He can do millions of instructions per second.
But he is myopic. He's so myopic that he can see only one instruction at a time.
He's also not very smart, he'll attempt to do exactly what you tell him to do.

This has become the base of my philosophy of programming and debugging.

score 4 · Answer 100 · answered Oct 12 '10 at 20:46

4

2 + 2 = 5, for sufficiently large values of 2.

— Anon

answered Oct 12 '10 at 20:46

aufather

4,449
2
26
24

score 4 · Answer 101 · answered Sep 07 '10 at 02:13

4

“ Copy and paste is a design error. ” -- David Parnas

answered Sep 07 '10 at 02:13

pramodc84

1,803
23
23

Could you explain what he means by that? – Mark C Mar 02 '11 at 21:48
@ Mark C - http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2009/04/a-modest-proposal-for-the-copy-and-paste-school-of-code-reuse.html – pramodc84 Mar 03 '11 at 04:49

score 4 · Answer 102 · answered Oct 21 '10 at 15:32

4

Software is hard.

-- Donald Knuth

answered Oct 21 '10 at 15:32

Travis Christian

1,851
17
21

Let’s go typesetting! – Paul D. Waite Dec 26 '10 at 02:09

score 4 · Answer 103 · answered Sep 08 '10 at 23:47

4

Write once, debug everywhere.

answered Sep 08 '10 at 23:47

Zafer

599
2
10

score 4 · Answer 104 · answered Oct 29 '10 at 15:00

4

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail

-My c# Teacher (not sure where he heard it from!)

answered Oct 29 '10 at 15:00

cdnicoll

479
3
6

I recently saw this [attributed](http://www.google.com/search?q=alan+lakein+planning) to [Alan Lakein](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Lakein), but it is simple enough to have been around for a long time (folk reversals). – Mark C Nov 12 '10 at 00:43
I heard this all the way through secondary school. – TRiG Dec 01 '10 at 19:02

score 4 · Answer 105 · edited Dec 16 '10 at 16:45

4

Well, not my favorite but...

If it is not broken, don't fix it

edited Dec 16 '10 at 16:45

Svish

1,092
8
14

answered Sep 09 '10 at 11:34

Maniero

10,826
14
80
133

also known as "don't ever refactor" – Jouke van der Maas Sep 10 '10 at 14:08
6

If it needs a refactor, it's broken :-) – Maniero Sep 11 '10 at 08:26
2

My colleague has a T-shirt that says: "Engineer's motto: If it ain't broke, take it apart and fix it!" – Kaz Dragon Oct 21 '10 at 09:17

score 4 · Answer 106 · answered Dec 09 '10 at 21:45

4

Knowledge is proud that it knows so much; wisdom is humble that it knows no more.

--William Cowper

answered Dec 09 '10 at 21:45

Walter

16,158
8
58
95

I've heard something similar. "Knowledge is knowing what is right, wisdom is doing what is right". Not sure who said it, I think it's an old Chinese saying that has been translated. – Ali Dec 09 '10 at 21:52

score 4 · Answer 107 · answered Sep 22 '10 at 16:45

4

I abhor a system designed for the "user," if that word is a coded pejorative meaning "stupid and unsophisticated."

Ken Thompson

answered Sep 22 '10 at 16:45

Joel J. Adamson

967
1
7
14

score 4 · Answer 108 · answered Sep 22 '10 at 17:37

4

Debugging is like farting — it's not so bad when it's your own code.

answered Sep 22 '10 at 17:37

Jonik

240
1
8

It's unknown who originally put forth this piece of wisdom; I took it from [here](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/58640/great-programming-quotes/344812#344812). – Jonik Sep 22 '10 at 17:39

score 3 · Answer 109 · edited Oct 12 '10 at 21:24

3

I don't understand why cheerleaders won't talk to me. Maybe I don't throw five touchdowns against Newport High, but let's see one of those football morons program in assembly language!
— Chris Lipe

edited Oct 12 '10 at 21:24

answered Oct 12 '10 at 19:21

Carlos

1,479
1
12
17

score 3 · Answer 110 · answered Oct 13 '10 at 18:48

3

It's OK to figure out murder mysteries, but you shouldn't need to figure out code. You should be able to read it.

-- Steve McConnell

answered Oct 13 '10 at 18:48

user5307

71
3

Raven13 · Answer 111 · 2010-10-29T17:22:07.340

3

Profanity is the one language all programmers know best.

-- Anonymous

edited Oct 29 '10 at 17:22

answered Oct 29 '10 at 15:01

Raven13

213
1
9

score 3 · Answer 112 · answered Sep 09 '10 at 00:59

3

It works on my machine

answered Sep 09 '10 at 00:59

Maniero

10,826
14
80
133

Favorite to hate, of course :-) – Maniero Sep 09 '10 at 14:34

score 3 · Answer 113 · edited Dec 16 '10 at 19:39

3

It should be noted that no ethically-trained software engineer would ever consent to write a DestroyBaghdad procedure. Basic professional ethics would instead require him to write a DestroyCity procedure, to which Baghdad could be given as a parameter.

^{Nathaniel Borenstein}

edited Dec 16 '10 at 19:39

Josh K

23,019
10
65
100

answered Dec 16 '10 at 19:22

rerun

2,045
12
24

Dupe: http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/39/whats-your-favourite-quote-about-programming/14249#14249 – Gelatin Dec 16 '10 at 23:04

score 3 · Answer 114 · answered Sep 13 '10 at 11:58

3

/* You are not expected to understand this. */

Comment in Sixth Edition Unix.

answered Sep 13 '10 at 11:58

I've witnessed that one in the original source code! (I was three at the time...) But I do treasure my copy of the annotated Version 6 Source Code from the University of New South Wales. – Randall Schulz Sep 22 '10 at 17:46
Is that a general comment or does it appear at a certain point? – Mark C Sep 28 '10 at 12:51
@Mark: It referred to a specific section of code. I forget what that section was doing. – Oct 11 '10 at 16:16

score 3 · Answer 115 · edited Sep 28 '10 at 08:13

3

In Hebrew there's a saying (mostly by army conscripted programmers):

באג בדיזיין -> זין בדיבאג

Which is an anagram, and it roughly translates to

Bugs in the design -> you're f^#ked while debugging

edited Sep 28 '10 at 08:13

Yaser Sulaiman

181
6

answered Sep 02 '10 at 07:37

Refael Ackermann

181
1
3

5

I don't think there's any way to translate the humor to English, but nice quote. – EpsilonVector Sep 02 '10 at 10:10
It kind of relies on the meaning of "zign". – configurator Sep 22 '10 at 00:13

score 3 · Answer 116 · answered Sep 27 '10 at 07:59

Let me re-assert that the question of whether there are limitations in principle of what problems man can make machines solve for him as compared to his own ability to solve problems, really is a technical question in recursive function theory.

— John McCarthy

Joey Adams · Answer 117 · 2010-09-28T17:11:24.767

3

If it wasn't for the last minute, nothing would get done.

—Supposedly from "Murphy's Laws"; see here

Although I can do plenty of things without any pressure (like post answers here), I need a hint of fear to do what I'm supposed to be doing (like my homework).

edited Sep 28 '10 at 17:11

answered Sep 27 '10 at 16:20

Joey Adams

5,535
3
30
34

score 3 · Answer 118 · edited Sep 26 '10 at 21:13

3

Fail Quickly

--Unknown

edited Sep 26 '10 at 21:13

Maniero

10,826
14
80
133

answered Sep 05 '10 at 14:35

Richard Stelling

2,061
2
18
16

The perfect match for "Avoid success!" – Mark C Oct 22 '10 at 21:48

score 2 · Answer 119 · answered Oct 14 '10 at 21:04

2

COBOL can be cured if caught early.
-- From Programming classes

answered Oct 14 '10 at 21:04

Dave

427
3
7

score 2 · Answer 120 · edited Oct 28 '10 at 02:36

2

In C++ it’s harder to shoot yourself in the foot, but when you do, you blow off your whole leg.
— Bjarne Stroustrup

edited Oct 28 '10 at 02:36

answered Oct 23 '10 at 19:05

Junior Mayhé

1,842
2
17
35

You made me think of the ["shoot yourself in the foot"](http://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/susan/joke/foot.htm) jokes. Also see [What Is the Most Spectacular Way to Shoot Yourself in the Foot with C++?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/174892/what-is-the-most-spectacular-way-to-shoot-yourself-in-the-foot-with-c) – Mark C Oct 23 '10 at 20:29

score 2 · Answer 121 · edited Sep 22 '10 at 02:10

2

Get into a rut early: Do the same process the same way. Accumulate idioms. Standardize. The only difference(!) between Shakespeare and you was the size of his idiom list - not the size of his vocabulary.

--Alan J. Perlis

edited Sep 22 '10 at 02:10

ahsteele

788
1
9
23

answered Sep 08 '10 at 23:54

ubernerd

151
1
6

score 2 · Answer 122 · edited Oct 11 '10 at 13:43

2

Being able to get a machine to do what you want is the closest thing we've got in technology to adolescent wish-fulfillment.
— Guy Steele in Coders at Work

edited Oct 11 '10 at 13:43

answered Sep 09 '10 at 03:57

Hélène Martin

111
3

score 2 · Answer 123 · answered Nov 06 '10 at 16:51

2

What you are asking me to do is like trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube. It doesn't work.

answered Nov 06 '10 at 16:51

Michael Riley - AKA Gunny

4,928
3
29
44

score 2 · Answer 124 · edited Dec 16 '10 at 16:46

2

Knowledge is knowledge. And viceversa.

From a T-shirt.

edited Dec 16 '10 at 16:46

Svish

1,092
8
14

answered Sep 10 '10 at 07:31

lmsasu

115
4

score 2 · Answer 125 · answered Sep 10 '10 at 13:22

2

It would seem that perfection is attained not when no more can be added, but when no more can be removed.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

answered Sep 10 '10 at 13:22

moi_meme

101
3

3

Dupe of http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/39/whats-your-favourite-programming-quote/1617#1617 – Gelatin Sep 11 '10 at 22:49

score 2 · Answer 126 · answered Dec 12 '10 at 20:13

2

Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.

proverb from japan

answered Dec 12 '10 at 20:13

Heinz Z.

251
1
6

score 2 · Answer 127 · answered Sep 11 '10 at 07:25

2

to understand recursion you must first understand recursion

answered Sep 11 '10 at 07:25

baklap

107
2

At first that was just corny, but later it dawned on me that the very sentence teaches recursion. – Mark C Sep 28 '10 at 12:54
To first understad mutual exclusion you must first forget everything you know about exclusive mutuality, and vice versa. – Joe D Oct 11 '10 at 17:06

score 2 · Answer 128 · answered Jan 19 '11 at 14:43

2

A quote on recursion and programming in general I came up with today.

Only fools believe in foolproof systems.

answered Jan 19 '11 at 14:43

Octavian Helm

172
8

score 2 · Answer 129 · edited Oct 29 '10 at 09:11

2

Linux is only free if your time has no value.

Memory is like an orgasm. It's a lot better if you don't have to fake it.
— Seymour Cray on virtual memory

edited Oct 29 '10 at 09:11

answered Sep 29 '10 at 10:42

Chankey Pathak

3,249
28
32

May I know why it was down-voted? – Chankey Pathak Oct 08 '10 at 14:45
4

Either you made some Linux user angry or someone didn't like having many quotes in one answer. – Carlos Oct 12 '10 at 19:24
1

Recursion was a [duplicate](http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/39/whats-your-favourite-quote-about-programming/1553#1553), so I removed it. The downvote could've simply been "I don't like this quote," but it would also fit better with the other answers if you move one of the two remaining quotes. – Oct 29 '10 at 09:12

score 1 · Answer 130 · answered Oct 08 '10 at 11:26

1

Education: that which reveals to the wise, and conceals from the stupid, the vast limits of their knowledge.
— Mark Twain

answered Oct 08 '10 at 11:26

score 1 · Answer 131 · answered Sep 06 '10 at 02:25

1

I'll call him Mel, because that was his name.

From The story of Mel

answered Sep 06 '10 at 02:25

Cesar Canassa

1,390
11
13

1

"I have often felt that programming is an art form, whose real value can only be appreciated by another versed in the same arcane art; there are lovely gems and brilliant coups hidden from human view and admiration, sometimes forever, by the very nature of the process. You can learn a lot about an individual just by reading through his code, even in hexadecimal. Mel was, I think, an unsung genius. " – Mark C Sep 28 '10 at 13:13
2

The story is entertaining, but this isn't a good quote: it's obscure and uninteresting. – Oct 08 '10 at 11:39
*@Roger:* Well, he can use my quote and then you can upvote. – Mark C Oct 10 '10 at 20:07
I tend to like short, easy to remember, quotes. Somehow, when I first read the Story of Mel this line got stuck in my head :-) – Cesar Canassa Oct 14 '10 at 13:49
1

@Mark: Whatever you're doing with italics on the names in your comments is screwing up comment notification. – Oct 22 '10 at 18:39
@Roger Really? You mean it's not working? I just do (star)At-Roger(colon)(star). – Mark C Oct 22 '10 at 21:00
@Mark: I did double check by going through my reply history, and there is no entry on Oct 10. (Did that before the comment today, since it was nearly 2 weeks ago. ;) – Oct 22 '10 at 21:02
@RogerP That means all my other formatted replies didn't work either. Do you think it's the colon or the italics? We could test right now. I'll try it in chat first. – Mark C Oct 22 '10 at 21:27
1

@Mark: Given that I use a colon and you apparently get the notifications... :P The italics probably disrupts the matching, which looks for @ and (I strongly suspect) uses the source rather than the marked-up comment. [ *How do comment replies work?* ](http://meta.stackexchange.com/q/43019/54262) – Oct 22 '10 at 21:34
@RogerP: Well, it could be only when you use *both*, but of course that's far-fetched. – Mark C Oct 22 '10 at 21:38

Mark C · Answer 132 · 2010-10-21T05:48:41.153

Concentrate Your Effort

Don't write too much. Concentrate your sweat on one story, rather than dissipate it over a dozen.

Jack London

Somehow, I missed the (paraphrased, shorter) duplicate of this one:

Be Diligent

Don't loaf and invite inspiration; light out after it with a club, and if you don't get it you will nonetheless get something that looks remarkably like it."

Part of one quote; I split them to narrow down the topic.

score 1 · Answer 133 · 2010-10-13T17:54:00.650

1

You should go home if you are thinking suicidal thoughts.
— Robert Read, "How to be a Programmer"

edited Oct 13 '10 at 17:54

answered Oct 13 '10 at 09:52

score 1 · Answer 134 · answered Oct 13 '10 at 20:55

1

I had a teacher that would tell students who were getting ahead of themselves this:

You don't know what you don't know

I can't say for sure if it's his quote or something he picked up from somewhere else.

answered Oct 13 '10 at 20:55

Corey Ogburn

575
2
11

1

See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Known_unknown – Steve Melnikoff Oct 26 '10 at 15:28
Not necessarily. There is what you know you know, what you know you don't know (e.g. how to fly a helicopter), and what you don't know you don't know. Then for some there is what they don't know they know. – doppelgreener Dec 13 '10 at 12:10

score 1 · Answer 135 · answered Oct 14 '10 at 20:16

1

Just use string you G-- d---ed savages!

during debate about merits of char[] vs string

answered Oct 14 '10 at 20:16

Brad Mace

207
1
4

score 1 · Answer 136 · answered Oct 22 '10 at 01:24

1

"That's not the way I would have done it"

answered Oct 22 '10 at 01:24

Alex Hart

191
6

score 1 · Answer 137 · answered Oct 24 '10 at 12:33

By Mike Williams, one of the creators of Erlang:

Find the right methods—Design by Prototyping.
It is not good enough to have ideas, you must also be able to implement them and know they work.
Make mistakes on a small scale, not in a production project.

score 1 · Answer 138 · answered Sep 08 '10 at 22:25

1

"Test what you fly, fly what you test."

answered Sep 08 '10 at 22:25

Daniel Grillo

337
1
12

score 1 · Answer 139 · answered Sep 08 '10 at 23:19

1

The required techniques of effective reasoning are pretty formal, but as long as programming is done by people that don't master them, the software crisis will remain with us and will be considered an incurable disease. And you know what incurable diseases do: they invite the quacks and charlatans in, who in this case take the form of Software Engineering gurus.

-- Dijkstra

answered Sep 08 '10 at 23:19

That is interesting quote. – Mark C Mar 02 '11 at 21:52

score 1 · Answer 140 · answered Oct 29 '10 at 07:14

OOP to me means only messaging, local retention and protection and hiding of state-process, and extreme late-binding of all things. It can be done in Smalltalk and in LISP. There are possibly other systems in which this is possible, but I’m not aware of them.

-- Alan Kay

score 1 · Answer 141 · answered Oct 29 '10 at 07:20

1

Only wimps use tape backup: real men just upload their important stuff on ftp, and let the rest of the world mirror it ;)

-- Linus Torvalds

answered Oct 29 '10 at 07:20

ftp? Doesn't he mean git? – Tyler Jul 07 '11 at 19:08

score 1 · Answer 142 · edited Oct 29 '10 at 08:27

1

You can't trust code that you did not totally create yourself. (Especially code from companies that employ people like me.)
— Ken Thompson, "Reflections on Trusting Trust"

edited Oct 29 '10 at 08:27

answered Oct 29 '10 at 08:16

Gichamba

207
1
7

score 1 · Answer 143 · answered Oct 29 '10 at 08:51

1

double value; /* or your money back! */
short changed; /* so triple your money back! */

cons.c on perl source tree

answered Oct 29 '10 at 08:51

krico

101
3

score 1 · Answer 144 · answered Oct 29 '10 at 13:00

1

I wish I could make Lust and Gluttony helpful but Sloth, Pride and Envy are certainly great for programmers." ~ Kenneth Clowes

answered Oct 29 '10 at 13:00

kowsheek

623
6
10

score 1 · Answer 145 · edited Dec 16 '10 at 16:47

1

There is no object-oriented problem that cannot be solved by adding a layer of indirection, except, of course, too many layers of indirection.

-- From "The Art of Unit Testing" Roy Osherove (attributed to an unnamed source)

edited Dec 16 '10 at 16:47

Svish

1,092
8
14

answered Nov 12 '10 at 00:17

Keith

153
6

David Wheeler maybe? http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/39/whats-your-favourite-quote-about-programming/978#978 – doppelgreener Nov 12 '10 at 15:06

score 1 · Answer 146 · edited Dec 16 '10 at 19:43

1

If you can't measure it, you can't improve it.

^{Lord Kelvin}

edited Dec 16 '10 at 19:43

Josh K

23,019
10
65
100

answered Dec 16 '10 at 17:18

dan_waterworth

7,287
2
34
45

score 1 · Answer 147 · edited Sep 22 '10 at 02:09

1

Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability.

-- Edsger W. Dijkstra

edited Sep 22 '10 at 02:09

ahsteele

788
1
9
23

answered Sep 11 '10 at 08:36

KV Prajapati

101
10

score 1 · Answer 148 · answered Dec 25 '10 at 22:02

1

Don't code today what you can't debug tomorrow

from this blog's title

answered Dec 25 '10 at 22:02

Anwar Chandra

285
1
6

score 1 · Answer 149 · answered Dec 26 '10 at 00:03

1

The best indication of software quality is consistent indentation

I read this when I was following up footnotes in SICP once but I've not been able to find it since, so a) I can't attribute it and b) I am writing from memory, and more than likely paraphrasing. I have, however, found it to be true.

answered Dec 26 '10 at 00:03

stuartd

101
3

ironic that people don't use IDEs with automatic indentation, then. – Dan Rosenstark Mar 05 '11 at 08:19

score 1 · Answer 150 · edited Jan 20 '11 at 09:49

1

Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.

-Robert Heinlein

edited Jan 20 '11 at 09:49

Aman Alam

219
2
7

answered Jan 18 '11 at 17:39

Erik

999
5
16

score 1 · Answer 151 · answered Sep 01 '10 at 20:02

1

I'm not sure if he's the originator of this quote, but I attended a session at a conference once where Alex Pukinskis said this and I love it!

Untested code has no business value - Alex Pukinskis

answered Sep 01 '10 at 20:02

Paddyslacker

11,070
5
55
65

score 1 · Answer 152 · edited Sep 22 '10 at 02:11

1

This isn't strictly a programming quote and I don't recall where I first heard it, but I've repeated it plenty of times on the job:

If you don't test it, it doesn't work.

edited Sep 22 '10 at 02:11

ahsteele

788
1
9
23

answered Sep 01 '10 at 20:16

BlairHippo

8,663
5
41
46

True. Ohh, so true – Refael Ackermann Sep 02 '10 at 07:38

score 1 · Answer 153 · edited Jan 19 '11 at 16:24

1

Release early. Release often. -- Eric S. Raymond

edited Jan 19 '11 at 16:24

l0b0

11,014
2
43
47

answered Sep 05 '10 at 14:36

Richard Stelling

2,061
2
18
16

Popularized by Eric S. Raymond in "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" (http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/cathedral-bazaar/). The third part of ESR's quote is "And listen to your customers." – Bill Karwin Sep 09 '10 at 18:12

score 0 · Answer 154 · answered Oct 08 '10 at 11:26

0

As a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information.
— Benjamin Disraeli

answered Oct 08 '10 at 11:26

score 0 · Answer 155 · edited Oct 10 '10 at 19:25

0

The whole history of this invention has been a struggle against time.
— Charles Babbage on the Analytical Engine, 1837

edited Oct 10 '10 at 19:25

answered Oct 08 '10 at 15:17

David Allan Finch

393
2
7

Mark C · Answer 156 · 2010-10-12T04:37:30.993

Skill Appreciates Skill

(Or, It Takes One to Know One)

I have often felt that programming is an art form,
whose real value can only be appreciated
by another versed in the same arcane art;
there are lovely gems and brilliant coups
hidden from human view and admiration, sometimes forever,
by the very nature of the process.
You can learn a lot about an individual
just by reading through his code, even in hexadecimal.

From The Story of Mel, a Real Programmer (free verse version)

I had no idea there was actually a short Wikipedia article with links to both prose and verse versions of the story, along with other information.

Paperjam · Answer 157 · 2010-10-23T17:24:30.713

0

Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem

(Keep it simple, stupid)

Years ago I ran across a poster that had the Latin expression with the English translation under it.

edited Oct 23 '10 at 17:24

answered Oct 21 '10 at 17:51

Paperjam

208
2
6

2

I don't think it's ironic, because the latin is "Occam's Razor" and most people, myself included, won't understand the Latin. – Mark C Oct 21 '10 at 19:10
@Mark - Ah, thanks. I didn't realize it was Occam's Razor. "Entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam's_razor). – Paperjam Oct 23 '10 at 17:27
I generally prefer h2g2 to Wikipedia: the writing's better quality. http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A21648783 – TRiG Dec 01 '10 at 19:09

score 0 · Answer 158 · answered Oct 23 '10 at 18:28

0

Keep it Simple!

answered Oct 23 '10 at 18:28

dede

103
3

2

Duplicate of http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/39/whats-your-favourite-quote-about-programming/87#87 – Oct 28 '10 at 02:34

score 0 · Answer 159 · answered Oct 23 '10 at 20:46

0

"Real programmers don't see code, they see trees."

answered Oct 23 '10 at 20:46

Ming-Tang

856
5
15

Digital Dude · Answer 160 · 2010-10-29T03:16:43.620

0

Programmers don't quit, they just go offline. :)

edited Oct 29 '10 at 03:16

answered Oct 29 '10 at 03:11

Digital Dude

393
2
8

score 0 · Answer 161 · answered Dec 26 '10 at 10:58

0

XML is like violence - if it doesn’t solve your problems, you are not using enough of it.

answered Dec 26 '10 at 10:58

Tom Lianza

101
2

Children, please don't forget that violence is no solution...it's an instrument to accomplish a solution. – Bobby Dec 28 '10 at 11:06

score 0 · Answer 162 · answered Jan 20 '11 at 17:56

0

Programming is an art form that fights back

-- Unknown

Note: especially when you're oncall...

answered Jan 20 '11 at 17:56

Matthieu M.

14,567
4
44
65

score 0 · Answer 163 · answered Jan 21 '11 at 17:30

True story:

I was doing a project for school in c++ and needless to say there was some compiler wrestling. As I got more pissed of I started naming my test functions shit with fuck variants for variables. At some point to every-bodies amusement I yelled "Why isn't this fuck pointing to shit?!?!?"

score 0 · Answer 164 · edited Sep 26 '10 at 21:13

0

Minimal Functionality to the desktop as soon as possible.

edited Sep 26 '10 at 21:13

Maniero

10,826
14
80
133

answered Sep 05 '10 at 06:22

Moshe

5,022
2
30
49

score -1 · Answer 165 · answered Jan 20 '11 at 09:49

-1

Impossible is Nothing

Although belongs to Adidas, but fits Software development well.

answered Jan 20 '11 at 09:49

Aman Alam

219
2
7

This is especially priceless when your boss comes armed with *that*, and a change request which is essentially the halting problem. "I don't care about your fancy-schmancy CS theory; you *will* make it work, to be delivered next week, because I already billed the client for it. Impossible is nothing, right? RIGHT!?" (not surprisingly, that person is no longer my boss) – Piskvor left the building Feb 08 '11 at 09:54
Yes right, and really impossible is nothing. Why should one posses a CS Degree if he isn't capable to make things work the way they should. – Aman Alam Feb 08 '11 at 09:58

score -1 · Answer 166 · answered Jan 20 '11 at 19:33

-1

Comments in code are like sex. When they are good -- it's very, very good. But when they are bad, they are better than nothing.

-- Anonymous

answered Jan 20 '11 at 19:33

Jacek Prucia

2,264
1
17
15

4

"Out of date and now just misleading" falls under "bad" and that's even worse than nothing. – doppelgreener Jan 20 '11 at 23:26

What's your favourite quote about programming?

166 Answers166

Relationship between length and quality

Concentrate Your Effort

Be Diligent

Skill Appreciates Skill

Linked