“The most effective debugging tool is still careful thought, coupled with judiciously placed print statements.”

—  Brian W. Kernighan

"Unix for Beginners" (1979).

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The most effective debugging tool is still careful thought, coupled with judiciously placed print statements." by Brian W. Kernighan?
Brian W. Kernighan photo
Brian W. Kernighan 6
Canadian computer scientist 1942

Related quotes

Brian W. Kernighan photo

“Everyone knows that debugging is twice as hard as writing a program in the first place. So if you're as clever as you can be when you write it, how will you ever debug it?”

Brian W. Kernighan (1942) Canadian computer scientist

" The Elements of Programming Style https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elements_of_Programming_Style", 2nd edition, chapter 2.

Edsger W. Dijkstra photo

“If you want more effective programmers, you will discover that they should not waste their time debugging, they should not introduce the bugs to start with.”

Edsger W. Dijkstra (1930–2002) Dutch computer scientist

1970s, The Humble Programmer (1972)

“The income tax is a much less effective tool for reducing inequalities than has often been thought.”

James Mirrlees (1936–2018) Scottish economist

Source: An exploration in the theory of optimum income taxation, 1971, p. 208

“Systems engineering is most effectively conceived of as a process that starts with the detection of a problem and continues through problem definition, planning and designing of a system, manufacturing or other implementing section, its use, and finally on to its obsolescence. Further, Systems engineering is not a matter of tools alone; It is a careful coordination of process, tools and people.”

Arthur D. Hall (1925–2006) American electrical engineer

A.D. Hall (1965) "Systems Engineering from an Engineering Viewpoint" In: Systems Science and Cybernetics. Vol.1 Issue.1

Felix Frankfurter photo

“To be effective, judicial administration must not be leaden-footed.”

Felix Frankfurter (1882–1965) American judge

Cobbledick v. United States, 309 U.S. 323, 324 (1940).
Judicial opinions

William Trufant Foster photo

“Most grown-up people get rid of the childish notion that whatever appears in print is true, but many cling to the equally absurd notion that the printing of a statement does give it some claim to dignity and credence. For the purposes of argumentation, let us here make this point emphatic: The mere fact that a statement appears in print lends not one atom to its value. Every assertion that is brought forward — though it may have been printed a thousand times and repeated a million times — must be challenged and tested before it can be regarded as trustworthy testimony of authority, — before it can be of any value as evidence.”

William Trufant Foster (1879–1950) American economist

Source: Argumentation and debating, 1908, p. 59; as cited in: Branham (2013, p. 77)

Akio Morita photo

“What we in industry learned in dealing with people is that people do not work just for money and that if you are trying to motivate, money is not the most effective tool.”

Akio Morita (1921–1999) Japanese businessman

Source: Made in Japan (1986), p. 138.

Kenneth E. Iverson photo

“The properties of executability and universality associated with programming languages can be combined, in a single language, with the well-known properties of mathematical notation which make it such an effective tool of thought.”

Kenneth E. Iverson (1920–2004) Canadian computer scientist

§5
Notation as a Tool of Thought (1979)

Kenneth E. Iverson photo

“If it is to be effective as a tool of thought, a notation must allow convenient expression not only of notions arising directly from a problem, but also of those arising in subsequent analysis, generalization, and specialization.”

Kenneth E. Iverson (1920–2004) Canadian computer scientist

§1.1
Notation as a Tool of Thought (1979)

Martin Heidegger photo

“The most thought-provoking thing in our thought-provoking time is that we are still not thinking.”

Martin Heidegger (1889–1976) German philosopher

Das Bedenklichste in unserer bedenklichen Zeit ist, dass wir noch nicht denken.
What is Called Thinking? [Was heisst Denken?] (1951–1952), as translated by Fred D. Wieck and J. Glenn Gray (1968)

Related topics