When it started out, it was an awful lot of fun. Of course, the paying customers got shafted every now and then, and after a while we began to take their complaints seriously.
ALAN PERLISIn man-machine symbiosis, it is man who must adjust: The machines can’t.
More Alan Perlis Quotes
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I think that it’s extraordinarily important that we in computer science keep fun in computing.
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Some programming languages manage to absorb change, but withstand progress.
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Training will not substantially help matters. We have to learn to live with it.
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In software systems it is often the early bird that makes the worm.
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I don’t think we are. I think we’re responsible for stretching them, setting them off in new directions, and keeping fun in the house.
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You can measure a programmer’s perspective by noting his attitude on the continuing vitality of FORTRAN.
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Computer Science is embarrassed by the computer.
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Often it is the means that justify the ends: goals advance technique and technique survives even when goal structures crumble.
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Dealing with failure is easy.
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Banality soothes our nerves.
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In English every word can be verbed.
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Everything should be built top-down, except the first time.
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Syntactic sugar causes cancer of the semicolon.
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What fun is there in making plans, acquiring discipline in organizing thoughts, devoting attention to detail and learning to be self-critical?
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Optimization hinders evolution.
ALAN PERLIS






