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When done well, software is invisible.

Bjarne Stroustrup

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

Important Learning Simplicity
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.
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Stories Technology Wish
There is no one “root of all evil” in software development. Design is hard in many ways.
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Creativity Engineering Simple
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.
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Important Language Simple Use
Certainly not every good program is object-oriented, and not every object-oriented program is good.
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Good Objects Program Very
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.
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Efficient Keys Safe Together
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.
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Class Function Hirerachies Successful Use
[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.
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Outlet Practice Skills Unique
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.
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Cad Support Tools
Nobody should call themselves a professional if they only knew one language.
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Language Person Professional Should
Design and programming are human activities; forget that and all is lost.
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Design Forget Lost
There are more useful systems developed in languages deemed awful than in languages praised for being beautiful – many more.
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Awful Beautiful Developed System
The standard library saves programmers from having to reinvent the wheel.
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Book Provoking Reading Though
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!
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Google Quality Thinking
Clearly, I reject the view that there is one way that is right for everyone and for every problem.
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Problem Views Way
However, when Java is promoted as the sole programming language, its flaws and limitations become serious.
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Java Language Serious
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.
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Fall Inspiration Real
People who passionately want to believe that the world is basically simple react to this with a fury that goes beyond what I consider appropriate for discussing a programming language.
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Believe Discussing People Simple
Too many managers and executives try to reduce programming to a low-level assembly-line activity. That’s inefficient, wasteful, costly in the long run, and inhumane to programmers.
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Insufficient Long Running Trying
For this reason restricting language features with the intent of eliminating programmer errors is at best dangerous.
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Dangerous Language Program Think
C++ is designed to allow you to express ideas, but if you don’t have ideas or don’t have any clue about how to express them, C++ doesn’t offer much help.
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Clue Helping Ideas
C++ is my favorite garbage collected language because it generates so little garbage
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Garbage Language Littles
Other programming languages constitute a mountain of ideas and inspiration-but it has to be mined carefully to avoid featurism and inconsistencies.
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Carefully Feaaturism Ideas Inconsistences Promoted
Always think about how a piece of code should be used: good interfaces are the essence of good code.
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Clever Dirty Thinking
“Legacy code” often differs from its suggested alternative by actually working and scaling.
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Alternatives Code Legacy
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.
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Initiative Matters People Practice Wasteful

When done well, software is invisible.

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When done well, software is invisible.

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