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This evolution may compromise Java’s claim of being simpler than C++, but my guess is that the effort will make Java a better language than it is today.

Bjarne Stroustrup

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.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Believe Discussing People Simple
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
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
Clearly, I reject the view that there is one way that is right for everyone and for every problem.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Problem Views Way
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
Our civilization depends critically on software, and we have a dangerously low degree of professionalism in the computer fields
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

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

Important Learning Simplicity
Creativity, engineering principles, and evolutionary change are needed to create a satisfactory large system.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Creativity Engineering Evolutionary Satisfactory
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
[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
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
This evolution may compromise Java’s claim of being simpler than C++, but my guess is that the effort will make Java a better language than it is today.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

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

Alternatives Code Legacy
I do keep the main points straight in my head most of the time, and I do know where to find the details when I need them.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Details Find Head Need
Always think about how a piece of code should be used: good interfaces are the essence of good code.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Clever Dirty Thinking
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
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
The standard library saves programmers from having to reinvent the wheel.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Book Provoking Reading Though
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
C++ is my favorite garbage collected language because it generates so little garbage
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Garbage Language Littles
Destructors for virtual base classes are executed in the reverse order of their appearance in a depth-first left-to-right traversal of the directed acyclic graph of base classes.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Class Depth Order
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
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
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
I would encourage nonproprietary standards for tools and libraries.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Library Standard Tools
Most of the programmers in ten years will be us, and we won’t get much smarter.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Mathematics Science Years
There are more useful systems developed in languages deemed awful than in languages praised for being beautiful – many more.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Awful Beautiful Developed System

This evolution may compromise Java’s claim of being simpler than C++, but my guess is that the effort will make Java a better language than it is today.

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This evolution may compromise Java’s claim of being simpler than C++, but my guess is that the effort will make Java a better language than it is today.

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Popular Authors

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