“The ALGOL compiler was probably one of the nicest pieces of code to come out at that time. I spent hours trying to fix and change the compiler. Working with it so closely affected the way I think about programming and had a profound influence on my style.”

Programmers at Work (1986)

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 ALGOL compiler was probably one of the nicest pieces of code to come out at that time. I spent hours trying to fix …" by Gary Kildall?
Gary Kildall photo
Gary Kildall 7
Computer scientist and entrepreneur 1942–1994

Related quotes

Fernando J. Corbató photo

“Regardless of whether one is dealing with assembly language or compiler language, the number of debugged lines of source code per day is about the same!”

Fernando J. Corbató (1926–2019) American computer scientist

"PL/I as a Tool for System Programming", Datamation, 15 (5), 6 May 1969, pp. 68–76. This has been paraphrased variously by others as Corbató's Law:
Productivity and reliability depend on the length of a program’s text, independent of language level used.
Albert Endres, H. Dieter Rombach, A Handbook of Software and Systems Engineering: Empirical Observations, Laws and Theories (2003), ISBN 0321154207, p. 72
The number of lines of code a programmer can write in a fixed period of time is the same independent of the language used.
[citation needed]

Grace Hopper photo

“I had a running compiler and nobody would touch it. … they carefully told me, computers could only do arithmetic; they could not do programs.”

Grace Hopper (1906–1992) American computer scientist and United States Navy officer

As quoted in Grace Hopper : Navy Admiral and Computer Pioneer (1989) by Charlene W. Billings, p. 74 ISBN 089490194X

Linus Torvalds photo

“It's one of those rare "perfect" kernels. So if it doesn't happen to compile with your config (or it does compile, but then does unspeakable acts of perversion with your pet dachshund), you can rest easy knowing that it's all your own damn fault, and you should just fix your evil ways.”

Linus Torvalds (1969) Finnish-American software engineer and hacker

Message to Linux kernel mailing list, 2006-11-29, Torvalds, Linus, 2006-12-11 http://lkml.org/lkml/2006/11/29/249,
2000s, 2006

Ginger Rogers photo

“I loved Fred so, and I mean that in the nicest, warmest way: I had such affection for him artistically. I think that experience with Fred was a divine blessing. It blessed me, I know, and I don't think blessings are one sided.”

Ginger Rogers (1911–1995) American actress and dancer

Reported by Dick Richards in "Ginger: Salute to a Star", quoting Rogers from Francis Wyndham's story about Ginger Rogers, in London's "Sunday Times Magazine".

Brian Andreas photo
Amanda Lear photo
Natalie Merchant photo

“There's no other piece of furniture in my home I'd stare at for three hours at a time, so I try not to do it to the TV.”

Natalie Merchant (1963) American singer-songwriter

Orlando Sentinel (6 November 1992)
Context: I grew up as a TV baby, with my TV babysitter, up until I was about 10. Then my mother just ripped the thing out of the wall and put it in a closet, and we didn't watch it. I have that sort of ability to become addicted to it. And I'm just so fascinated by it once I turn it on, I'm not even that aware what's there. I'm just watching it. So I don't ever turn it on. I get my news from the newspaper. I don't want to watch the Hollywood news product on TV... There's no other piece of furniture in my home I'd stare at for three hours at a time, so I try not to do it to the TV.

Larry Wall photo

“Perl has a long tradition of working around compilers.”

Larry Wall (1954) American computer programmer and author, creator of Perl

[199708252256.PAA00105@wall.org, 1997]
Usenet postings, 1997

Related topics