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Edsger W. Dijkstra: 136 quotes3 likes

“My point today is that, if we wish to count lines of code, we should not regard them as "lines produced" but as "lines spent": the current conventional wisdom is so foolish as to book that count on the wrong side of the ledger.”

Edsger W. Dijkstra

Dijkstra (1988) " On the cruelty of really teaching computing science http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/transcriptions/EWD10xx/EWD1036.html (EWD1036). 1980s

“In the wake of the Cultural Revolution and now of the recession I observe a mounting pressure to co-operate and to promote "teamwork". For its anti-individualistic streak, such a drive is of course highly suspect; some people may not be so sensitive to it, but having seen the Hitlerjugend in action suffices for the rest of your life to be very wary of "team spirit."”

Edsger W. Dijkstra

Very. Dijkstra (1994) "The strengths of the academic enterprise" http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/transcriptions/EWD11xx/EWD1175.html (EWD 1175). 1990s

“The competent programmer is fully aware of the strictly limited size of his own skull; therefore he approaches the programming task in full humility, and among other things he avoids clever tricks like the plague.”

Edsger W. Dijkstra

Dijkstra (1972) The Humble Programmer http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/transcriptions/EWD03xx/EWD340.html (EWD340). 1970s

“In short, I suggest that the programmer should continue to understand what he is doing, that his growing product remains firmly within his intellectual grip. It is my sad experience that this suggestion is repulsive to the average experienced programmer, who clearly derives a major part of his professional excitement from not quite understanding what he is doing. In this streamlined age, one of our most undernourished psychological needs is the craving for Black Magic and apparently the automatic computer can satisfy this need for the professional software engineer, who is secretly enthralled by the gigantic risks he takes in his daring irresponsibility. For his frustrations I have no remedy……”

Edsger W. Dijkstra

Unknown date

“Write a paper promising salvation, make it a 'structured' something or a 'virtual' something, or 'abstract', 'distributed' or 'higher-order' or 'applicative' and you can almost be certain of having started a new cult.”

Edsger W. Dijkstra

Dijkstra (1979) My hopes of computing science http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/transcriptions/EWD07xx/EWD709.html (EWD 709). 1970s

“FORTRAN's tragic fate has been its wide acceptance, mentally chaining thousands and thousands of programmers to our past mistakes.”

Edsger W. Dijkstra

1970s, The Humble Programmer (1972)

“Several people have told me that my inability to suffer fools gladly is one of my main weaknesses.”

Edsger W. Dijkstra

Dijkstra (1978) The pragmatic engineer versus the scientific designer http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/transcriptions/EWD06xx/EWD690.html (EWD 690). 1970s

“LISP has been jokingly described as "the most intelligent way to misuse a computer". I think that description a great compliment because it transmits the full flavor of liberation: it has assisted a number of our most gifted fellow humans in thinking previously impossible thoughts.”

Edsger W. Dijkstra

1970s, The Humble Programmer (1972)

“Don't blame me for the fact that competent programming, as I view it as an intellectual possibility, will be too difficult for "the average programmer" — you must not fall into the trap of rejecting a surgical technique because it is beyond the capabilities of the barber in his shop around the corner.”

Edsger W. Dijkstra

Dijkstra (1975) Comments at a Symposium http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/transcriptions/EWD05xx/EWD512.html (EWD 512). 1970s

“May, in spite of all distractions generated by technology, all of you succeed in turning information into knowledge, knowledge into understanding, and understanding into wisdom.”

Edsger W. Dijkstra

Dijkstra (1998) https://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/vl/notes/dijkstra.html 1990s

“When FORTRAN has been called an infantile disorder, full PL/1, with its growth characteristics of a dangerous tumor, could turn out to be a fatal disease.”

Edsger W. Dijkstra

1970s, The Humble Programmer (1972)

“We can found no scientific discipline, nor a hearty profession, on the technical mistakes of the Department of Defense and, mainly, one computer manufacturer.”

Edsger W. Dijkstra

1970s, How do we tell truths that might hurt? (1975)

“The art of programming is the art of organizing complexity, of mastering multitude and avoiding its bastard chaos as effectively as possible.”

Edsger W. Dijkstra

Dijkstra (1970) " Notes On Structured Programming http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/ewd02xx/EWD249.PDF" (EWD249), Section 3 ("On The Reliability of Mechanisms"), p. 7. 1970s

“The problems of the real world are primarily those you are left with when you refuse to apply their effective solutions.”

Edsger W. Dijkstra

Dijkstra (1988) " On the cruelty of really teaching computing science http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/transcriptions/EWD10xx/EWD1036.html (EWD1036). 1980s

“FORTRAN, 'the infantile disorder', by now nearly 20 years old, is hopelessly inadequate for whatever computer application you have in mind today: it is now too clumsy, too risky, and too expensive to use.”

Edsger W. Dijkstra

1970s, How do we tell truths that might hurt? (1975)

“APL is a mistake, carried through to perfection. It is the language of the future for the programming techniques of the past: it creates a new generation of coding bums.”

Edsger W. Dijkstra

1970s, How do we tell truths that might hurt? (1975)

“On Our Inability To Do Much.”

Edsger W. Dijkstra

Dijkstra (1972) "Structured Programming", Chapter title in O.J. Dahl, E.W. Dijkstra, and C.A.R. Hoare. Academic Press, 1972 ISBN 0122005503.
1970s

“[Though computer science is a fairly new discipline, it is predominantly based on the Cartesian world view. As Edsgar W. Dijkstra has pointed out] A scientific discipline emerges with the - usually rather slow! - discovery of which aspects can be meaningfully 'studied in isolation for the sake of their own consistency.”

Edsger W. Dijkstra

Dijkstra (1982) as cited in: Douglas Schuler, Douglas Schuler Jonathan Jacky (1989) Directions and Implications of Advanced Computing, 1987. Vol 1, p. 84.
1980s

“When we had no computers, we had no programming problem either. When we had a few computers, we had a mild programming problem. Confronted with machines a million times as powerful, we are faced with a gigantic programming problem.”

Edsger W. Dijkstra

Dijkstra (1986) Visuals for BP's Venture Research Conference http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/transcriptions/EWD09xx/EWD963.html (EWD 963). 1980s

“The major cause [of the software crisis] is that the machines have become several orders of magnitude more powerful! To put it quite bluntly: as long as there were no machines, programming was no problem at all; when we had a few weak computers, programming became a mild problem, and now we have gigantic computers, programming has become an equally gigantic problem. In this sense the electronic industry has not solved a single problem, it has only created them, it has created the problem of using its products.”

Edsger W. Dijkstra

1970s, The Humble Programmer (1972)