This is a small list of my favourite quotes relating to computer programming.
If debugging is the process of removing software bugs, then programming must be the process of putting them in.
— Edsger W. Dijkstra
First, solve the problem. Then, write the code.
— John Johnson
There are no small changes when you’re committed to delivering quality software.
— Des Traynor
The object oriented model provides a structured way to write spaghetti code.
— Paul Graham
The speed of software halves every 18 months.
— Martin Rieser
Adding complexity to manage complexity is a losing proposition.
— Jeff Fox
If you’re willing to restrict the flexibility of your approach, you can almost always do something better.
— John Carmack
Constraint should be embraced for its ability to enhance the creative process and bring out the best in human ingenuity.
— Jake; Bauer
The language that doesn’t have everything is easier to program in than the one that does.
— Dennis Ritchie
One of my most productive days was throwing away 1000 lines of code.
— Ken Thompson
As we have higher and higher level programming tools with better and better abstractions, becoming a proficient programmer is getting harder and harder.
— Joel Spolsky
If your code needs a comment to be understood, it would be better to rewrite it so it’s easier to understand.
— Rob Pike
Code is the only thing you can trust.
— Carlos Davide
The cheapest, fastest, and most reliable components are those that aren’t there.
— Gordon Bell
Good taste is rethinking the problem so that the special case goes away.
— Linus Torvalds
There’s a difference between simplifying, and making a higher level of abstraction.
— Jonathan Blow
If you want satisfying answers to life’s mysteries about production environments, you need to be able to get to the bottom of things.
— Rachel Kroll
There’s always state, what differentiates different approaches is where it is kept.
— Chuck Moore
Most of modern programming is spent creating and consuming fake abstractions that are much more leaky and buggy than we’d like admit.
— Daniel B. Markham
[Cowardly] minimalism is the illusion of simplicity backed by megabytes of cruft.
— Maciej Cegeowski
To become a generally usable programming product, a program must be written in a generalized fashion.
— Fred Brooks Jr.
Aggressive surgery is the only known treatment against the cancer of feature creep.
— Dan–Simon Marland
Building the bridge as you cross the river for the first time is a paralyzing thought, and despite all my wishes about it being done right on that initial attempt, it turns out it’s a pretty good idea to make that first crossing as cheap and easy to tear down —and replace—as possible.
—Fred Herbert
Functionality is an asset, but code is a liability.
— Ted Dziuba
Personally, I have always found it important to actually understand the things I am using.
— Marc Ten Bosch
The problem is that we are attempting to build systems that are beyond our ability to intellectually manage.
— Nancy Leveson
When you do things right, people won’t be sure you’ve done anything at all.
— God, “Futurama”