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Anybody who comes to you and says he has a perfect language is either naive or a salesman.

Bjarne Stroustrup

Design and programming are human activities; forget that and all is lost.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Design Forget Lost
If you think it’s simple, then you have misunderstood the problem.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Misunderstood Simple Thinking
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
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
Creativity, engineering principles, and evolutionary change are needed to create a satisfactory large system.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Creativity Engineering Evolutionary Satisfactory
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
I would encourage nonproprietary standards for tools and libraries.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Library Standard Tools
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
When done well, software is invisible.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Done Invisible Software
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
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
For this reason restricting language features with the intent of eliminating programmer errors is at best dangerous.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Dangerous Language Program Think
[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
Always think about how a piece of code should be used: good interfaces are the essence of good code.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

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

Important Learning Simplicity

Anybody who comes to you and says he has a perfect language is either naive or a salesman.

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Anybody who comes to you and says he has a perfect language is either naive or a salesman.

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