black
grey
blue
red
brown
white

Certainly not every good program is object-oriented, and not every object-oriented program is good.

Bjarne Stroustrup

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

Alternatives Code Legacy
Clearly, I reject the view that there is one way that is right for everyone and for every problem.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Problem Views Way
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
I assume that a sufficiently skilled will be able to do anything not explicitly forbidden by the hardware.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Able Assuming Forbidden
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
Always think about how a piece of code should be used: good interfaces are the essence of good code.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Clever Dirty Thinking
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
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
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
There is no one “root of all evil” in software development. Design is hard in many ways.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

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

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

Library Standard Tools
I find languages that support just one programming paradigm constraining
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Language Programming Support
Certainly not every good program is object-oriented, and not every object-oriented program is good.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Good Objects Program Very
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
When done well, software is invisible.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Done Invisible Software
If you think it’s simple, then you have misunderstood the problem.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

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

Language Perfect Salesman
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.
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

Insufficient Long Running Trying
Java isn’t platform independent; it is a platform
BJARNE STROUSTRUP

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

Important Learning Simplicity

Certainly not every good program is object-oriented, and not every object-oriented program is good.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

Certainly not every good program is object-oriented, and not every object-oriented program is good.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Bjarne Stroustrup Quotes