Quotes tagged with 'programming'

There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies.
—C. a. R. Hoar programming

People think that computer science is the art of geniuses but the actual reality is the opposite, just many people doing things that build on each other, like a wall of mini stones.
—Donald Knuth programming

Below the surface of the machine, the program moves. Without effort, it expands and contracts. In great harmony, electrons scatter and regroup. The forms on the monitor are but ripples on the water. The essence stays invisibly below.
—Master Yuan Ma / The Book of Programming life programming

Tzu-li and Tzu-ssu were boasting about the size of their latest programs. ‘Two-hundred thousand lines,’ said Tzu-li, ‘not counting comments!’ Tzu-ssu responded, ‘Pssh, mine is almost a million lines already.’ Master Yuan-Ma said, ‘My best program has five hundred lines.’ Hearing this, Tzu-li and Tzu-ssu were enlightened.
—Master Yuan Ma / The Book of Programming life programming

A beginning programmer writes her programs like an ant builds her hill, one piece at a time, without thought for the bigger structure. Her programs will be like loose sand. They may stand for a while, but growing too big they fall apart.
Realizing this problem, the programmer will start to spend a lot of time thinking about structure. Her programs will be rigidly structured, like rock sculptures. They are solid, but when they must change, violence must be done to them.
The master programmer knows when to apply structure and when to leave things in their simple form. Her programs are like clay, solid yet malleable.
—Master Yuan Ma / The Book of Programming life programming