Opportunities that present themselves to you are the consequence -- at
least partially -- of being in the right place at the right time. They
tend to present themselves when you're not expecting it -- and often
when you are engaged in other activities that would seem to preclude you
from pursuing them. And they come and go quickly -- if you don't jump
all over an opportunity, someone else generally will and it will vanish.
-- Marc Andreessen (http://blog.pmarca.com/)
A person won't retain proficiency at a task unless he or she has at one
time learned to perform that task very rapidly. Learning research
demonstrates that the skills of people who become accurate but not fast
deteriorate much sooner than the skills of people who become both
accurate and fast.
-- Philip Greenspun
While I’ve always appreciated beautiful code, I share Jonathan’s concern
about studying it too much. I think studying beauty in music and
painting has led us to modern classical music and painting that the
majority of us just don’t get. Beauty can be seen when it emerges, but
isn’t something to strive for in isolation of a larger context. In the
software world, the larger context would be the utility of the software
to the end user.
-- [A comment on a blog]
The general principle for complexity design is this: Think locally, act
locally.
-- Richard P. Gabriel & Ron Goldman, Mob Software: The Erotic Life of Code
I feel it is everybodies obligation to reach for the best in themselves
and use that for the interest of mankind.
-- Corneluis (comment on 'Are you going to change the world? (Really?)')
The only problems we can really solve in a satisfactory manner are those
that finally admit a nicely factored solution.
-- E. W. Dijkstra, The humble programmer
Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its
victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under
robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies, The robber baron's
cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated;
but those who torment us for own good will torment us without end, for
they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
-- C.S. Lewis
The best programmers are not marginally better than merely good ones.
They are an order-of-magnitude better, measured by whatever standard:
conceptual creativity, speed, ingenuity of design, or problem-solving
ability.
-- Randall E. Stross
We control complexity by building abstractions that hide details when
appropriate. We control complexity by establishing conventional
interfaces that enable us to construct systems by combining standard,
well-understood pieces in a ``mix and match'' way. We control complexity
by establishing new languages for describing a design, each of which
emphasizes particular aspects of the design and deemphasizes others.
-- Alan J. Perlis
We now come to the decisive step of mathematical abstraction: we forget
about what the symbols stand for. ...[The mathematician] need not be
idle; there are many operations which he may carry out with these
symbols, without ever having to look at the things they stand for.
-- Hermann Weyl, The Mathematical Way of Thinking
It’s a problem if the design doesn’t let you add features at a later
date. If you have to redo a program, the hours you spend can cause you
to lose your competitive edge. A flexible program demonstrates the
difference between a good designer and someone who is just getting a
piece of code out.
-- Gary Kildall (inventor of CP/M, one of the first OS for the micro).
Lisp is worth learning for the profound enlightenment experience you
will have when you finally get it; that experience will make you a
better programmer for the rest of your days, even if you never actually
use Lisp itself a lot.
-- Eric S. Raymond
Opportunities that present themselves to you are the consequence -- at
least partially -- of being in the right place at the right time. They
tend to present themselves when you're not expecting it -- and often
when you are engaged in other activities that would seem to preclude you
from pursuing them. And they come and go quickly -- if you don't jump
all over an opportunity, someone else generally will and it will vanish.
-- Marc Andreessen (http://blog.pmarca.com/)
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No art, however minor, demands less than total dedication if you want to
excel in it.
-- Alberti
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Show, don't tell.
-- unknown
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A person won't retain proficiency at a task unless he or she has at one
time learned to perform that task very rapidly. Learning research
demonstrates that the skills of people who become accurate but not fast
deteriorate much sooner than the skills of people who become both
accurate and fast.
-- Philip Greenspun
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
While I’ve always appreciated beautiful code, I share Jonathan’s concern
about studying it too much. I think studying beauty in music and
painting has led us to modern classical music and painting that the
majority of us just don’t get. Beauty can be seen when it emerges, but
isn’t something to strive for in isolation of a larger context. In the
software world, the larger context would be the utility of the software
to the end user.
-- [A comment on a blog]
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Just like carpentry, measure twice cut once.
-- Super-sizing YouTube with Python (Mike Solomon, [email protected])
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The general principle for complexity design is this: Think locally, act
locally.
-- Richard P. Gabriel & Ron Goldman, Mob Software: The Erotic Life of Code
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Acknowledging the negative doesn't mean sniveling [whining, complaining]; it
means facing the truth and then moving on.
-- George Leonard, Mastery.
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The best thing about a boolean is even if you are wrong, you are only
off by a bit.
-- Anonymous
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I feel it is everybodies obligation to reach for the best in themselves
and use that for the interest of mankind.
-- Corneluis (comment on 'Are you going to change the world? (Really?)')
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Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
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The only problems we can really solve in a satisfactory manner are those
that finally admit a nicely factored solution.
-- E. W. Dijkstra, The humble programmer
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Don't stay in bed, unless you can make money in bed.
-- George Burns
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Good programmers use their brains, but good guidelines save us having to
think out every case.
-- Francis Glassborow
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The only thing a man should ever be 100% convinced of is his own
ignorance.
-- DJ MacLean
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Dont give users the opportunity to lock themselves.
-- unknown
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Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its
victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under
robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies, The robber baron's
cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated;
but those who torment us for own good will torment us without end, for
they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
-- C.S. Lewis
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If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.
-- Mark Twain
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The best programmers are not marginally better than merely good ones.
They are an order-of-magnitude better, measured by whatever standard:
conceptual creativity, speed, ingenuity of design, or problem-solving
ability.
-- Randall E. Stross
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When your enemy is making a very serious mistake, don't be impolite and
disturb him.
-- Napoleon Bonaparte (allegedly)
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We control complexity by building abstractions that hide details when
appropriate. We control complexity by establishing conventional
interfaces that enable us to construct systems by combining standard,
well-understood pieces in a ``mix and match'' way. We control complexity
by establishing new languages for describing a design, each of which
emphasizes particular aspects of the design and deemphasizes others.
-- Alan J. Perlis
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Submit
We now come to the decisive step of mathematical abstraction: we forget
about what the symbols stand for. ...[The mathematician] need not be
idle; there are many operations which he may carry out with these
symbols, without ever having to look at the things they stand for.
-- Hermann Weyl, The Mathematical Way of Thinking
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It’s a problem if the design doesn’t let you add features at a later
date. If you have to redo a program, the hours you spend can cause you
to lose your competitive edge. A flexible program demonstrates the
difference between a good designer and someone who is just getting a
piece of code out.
-- Gary Kildall (inventor of CP/M, one of the first OS for the micro).
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Argue with idiots, and you become an idiot.
If you compete with slaves you become a slave.
-- Paul Graham and Norbert Weiner, respectively
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I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.
-- Thomas Jefferson
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State is the root of all evil. In particular functions with side effects
should be avoided.
-- OO Sucks (bluetail.com)
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Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from
religious conviction.
-- Blaise Pascal (attributed)
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So - what are the most important problems in software engineering? I’d
answer “dealing with complexity”.
-- Mark Chu-Carroll
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Lisp is worth learning for the profound enlightenment experience you
will have when you finally get it; that experience will make you a
better programmer for the rest of your days, even if you never actually
use Lisp itself a lot.
-- Eric S. Raymond
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Premature optimization is the root of all evil (or at least most of it)
in programming.
-- Donald Knuth
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Attitude is no substitute for competence.
-- Eric S. Raymond, How to become a hacker
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