“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). <br class="br">1970s

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Edsger W. Dijkstra68

Dutch computer scientist 1930–2002

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“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"”

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

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

“Just because you've become a young man now,
There's still some things that you don't understand now.
Before you ask some girl for her hand now,
Keep your freedom for as long as you can now.

My mama told me...'you better shop around'
(Shop, shop around) a-whoa-yeah
You better (uh-huh) shop around.”

Smokey Robinson (1940) American R&B singer-songwriter and record producer

Shop Around, written by Smokey Robinson and Berry Gordy, Jr. (1960)
Song lyrics, With The Miracles

“The effective exploitation of his powers of abstraction must be regarded as one of the most vital activities of a competent programmer.”

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

1970s, The Humble Programmer (1972)

“My technique is laughable at times. I have developed a style of my own, I suppose, which creeps around … I don't have to have too much technique for it.”

David Gilmour (1946) guitarist, singer, best known as a member of Pink Floyd

As quoted in Sounds : Guitar Heroes (May 1983)
Context: My technique is laughable at times. I have developed a style of my own, I suppose, which creeps around … I don't have to have too much technique for it. I've developed the parts of my technique that are useful to me. I'll never be a very fast guitar player. I don't really know what to say about my style. There's always a melodic intent in there.

“It is, therefore, possible to extend a partially specified interpretation to a complete interpretation, without loss of verifiability, […] This fact offers the possibility of automatic verification of programs, the programmer merely tagging entrances and one edge in each innermost loop.”

Robert Floyd (1936–2001) American computer scientist

Source: Assigning Meanings to Programs http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~weimer/2007-615/reading/FloydMeaning.pdf (1967), p. 25.

“I purchased a Chevrolet Impala. I shopped around and had 5 different auto dealers competing for my business. Because all 5 offered the same product, they were forced to compete for my business… Funny thing, they still made a fair profit — not an outrageous one.”

Steve Kagen (1949) American politician

Comparing price competition in the automobile market to having a prescription filled at a pharmacy
[13 July 2007, http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/7/13/852/86199, "I Have Been Living the Movie 'Sicko' For the Last 30 Years", Daily Kos, 2007-07-21]
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