Best programming and hacker quotes. Ever.
Curated by fellow hackers Jarmo Pertman & Andri Möll
Your code is both good and original. Unfortunately the parts that are good are not original, and the parts that are original are not good.
Anonymous
What is the difference between a Turing machine and the modern computer? It's the same as that between Hillary's ascent of Everest and the establishment of a Hilton hotel on its peak.
Alan J. Perlis
Lisp isn't a language, it's a building material.
Alan Kay
I will not be a lemming and follow the crowd over the cliff and into the C.
John Beidler
Systems have sub-systems and sub-systems have sub- systems and so on ad infinitum - which is why we're always starting over.
Alan J. Perlis
It’s hard to read through a book on the principles of magic without glancing at the cover periodically to make sure it isn’t a book on software design.
Bruce Tognazzini
In programming, as in everything else, to be in error is to be reborn.
Alan J. Perlis
It is easier to change the specification to fit the program than vice versa.
Alan J. Perlis
It should be noted that no ethically-trained software engineer would ever consent to write a DestroyBaghdad procedure. Basic professional ethics would instead require him to write a DestroyCity procedure, to which Baghdad could be given as a parameter.
Nathaniel S Borenstein
People who find Wiki-markup too difficult to use and need a WYSIWYG-editor shouldn't be using a Wiki in the first place.
Anonymous