Best programming and hacker quotes. Ever.
Curated by fellow hackers Jarmo Pertman & Andri Möll
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 S Borenstein
Software is either testable or detestable.
Anonymous
A computer scientist counts to ten: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 ...
Anonymous
Everyone else counts to ten: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Programming is an unnatural act.
Alan J. Perlis
Functions delay binding; data structures induce binding. Moral: Structure data late in the programming process.
Alan J. Perlis
When debugging, novices insert corrective code; experts remove defective code.
Richard Pattis
An ideal world is left as an exercise to the reader.
From Paul Graham's "On Lisp"
Optimization hinders evolution.
Alan J. Perlis
In My Egotistical Opinion, most people's C programs should be indented six feet downward and covered with dirt.
Blair P. Houghton
It is easier to optimize correct code than to correct optimized code.
Anonymous