Every program has (at least) two purposes: the one for which it was written and another for which it wasn’t.
ALAN PERLISWe began to feel as if we really were responsible for the successful, error-free perfect use of these machines.
More Alan Perlis Quotes
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In computing, the mean time to failure keeps getting shorter.
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In software systems it is often the early bird that makes the worm.
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Optimization hinders evolution.
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Simplicity does not precede complexity, but follows it.
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I think that it’s extraordinarily important that we in computer science keep fun in computing.
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There are two ways to write error-free programs; only the third one works.
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A year spent in artificial intelligence is enough to make one believe in God.
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Motto for a research laboratory: what we work on today, others will first think of tomorrow.
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If your computer speaks English, it was probably made in Japan.
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There is no such thing as a free variable.
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If you have a procedure with 10 parameters, you probably missed some.
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FORTRAN is not a flower but a weed – it is hardy, occasionally blooms, and grows in every computer.
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Is it possible that software is not like anything else.
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You’ve solved the wrong problem. Work hard to improve.
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That it is meant to be discarded: that the whole point is to always see it as a soap bubble?
ALAN PERLIS






