black
grey
blue
red
brown
white

The most important single aspect of software development is to be clear about what you are trying to build.

Bjarne Stroustrup

With the increasing importance of standards for system-level objects such as COM and CORBA, it is particularly important that the C++ bindings to those be clean, well documented, and simple to use.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Important Language Simple Use
First, I’d like to see the basic tools such as compilers, debuggers, profilers, database interfaces, GUI builders, CAD tools, and so forth fully support the ISO standard.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Cad Support Tools
Our civilization depends critically on software, and we have a dangerously low degree of professionalism in the computer fields
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Civilization Degree Fields
There’s an old story about the person who wished his computer were as easy to use as his telephone. That wish has come true, since I no longer know how to use my telephone.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Stories Technology Wish
Any verbose and tedious solution is error-prone because programmers get bored.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Bored Errors Programmers
I like doing research that has an impact. If I went to a company to make what they call ‘real money,’ I’d be just trying to make a system work as fast as possible to meet the product and serice deadlines.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Company Impact Possible Real Trying
I assume that a sufficiently skilled will be able to do anything not explicitly forbidden by the hardware.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Able Assuming Forbidden
Creativity, engineering principles, and evolutionary change are needed to create a satisfactory large system.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Creativity Engineering Evolutionary Satisfactory
[Corporate programming] is often done to the point where the individual is completely submerged in corporate “culture” with no outlet for unique talents and skills.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Outlet Practice Skills Unique
Other programming languages constitute a mountain of ideas and inspiration-but it has to be mined carefully to avoid featurism and inconsistencies.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Carefully Feaaturism Ideas Inconsistences Promoted
The most important single aspect of software development is to be clear about what you are trying to build.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Important Learning Simplicity
If you think it’s simple, then you have misunderstood the problem.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Misunderstood Simple Thinking
Corporate practices can be directly hostile to individuals with exceptional skills and initiative in technical matters. I consider such management of technical people cruel and wasteful.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Initiative Matters People Practice Wasteful
Personally, I look forward to better tools for analyzing C++ source code.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Analyzing Looks Tools
Some software is actually pretty good, by any standard. Think of the Mars Rovers, Google, and the Human Genome Project. Now, that’s quality software!
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Google Quality Thinking
C makes it easy to shoot yourself in the foot; C++ makes it harder, but when you do it blows your whole leg off.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Funny Humorous Witty
Java isn’t platform independent; it is a platform
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Independent Java Platforms
“Legacy code” often differs from its suggested alternative by actually working and scaling.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Alternatives Code Legacy
There is no one “root of all evil” in software development. Design is hard in many ways.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Creativity Engineering Simple
An organisation that treats its programmers as morons will soon have programmers that are willing and able to act like morons only.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Able Organization Treat
It is easy to study the rules of overloading and of templates without noticing that together they are one of the keys to elegant and efficient type-safe containers.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Efficient Keys Safe Together
You can hide all kinds of clever and dirty code behind a good interface if you really need such code.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Code Good Interface Need Really
Defining OO as based on the use of class hierarchies and virtual functions is also practical in that it provides some guidance as to where OO is likely to be successful.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Class Function Hirerachies Successful Use
For this reason restricting language features with the intent of eliminating programmer errors is at best dangerous.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Dangerous Language Program Think
Certainly not every good program is object-oriented, and not every object-oriented program is good.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Good Objects Program Very
To many managers, getting rid of the arrogant, undisciplined, over-paid, technology-obsessed, improperly-dressed etc. programmers would appear to be a significant added benefit
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Arrogant Benefits Technology
My impression was and is that many programming languages and tools represent solutions looking for problems, and I was determined that my work should not fall into that category.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Fall Inspiration Real

The most important single aspect of software development is to be clear about what you are trying to build.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

The most important single aspect of software development is to be clear about what you are trying to build.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Bjarne Stroustrup Quotes