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Because of its vitality, the computing field is always in desperate need of new cliches: Banality soothes our nerves.

Alan Perlis

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Alan Perlis
Age: 67 †
Born: 1922
Born: April 1
Died: 1990
Died: February 7
Computer Scientist
Mathematician
University Teacher
Pittsburg
Pennsylvania
Alan Jay Perlis
Alan J. Perlis
Always
Nerves
Desperate
Humorous
Soothes
Field
Cliches
Fields
Banality
Technology
Computing
Need
Cliche
Needs
Vitality

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C programmers never die. They are just cast into void.
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Every reader should ask himself periodically “Toward what end, toward what end?”—but do not ask it too often lest you pass up the fun of programming for the constipation of bittersweet philosophy.
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You think you KNOW when you learn, are more sure when you can write, even more when you can teach, but certain when you can program.
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There are two ways to write error-free programs only the third one works.
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We toast the Lisp programmer who pens his thoughts within nests of parentheses.
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Any noun can be verbed.
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In computing, turning the obvious into the useful is a living definition of the word frustration.
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Optimization hinders evolution.
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Don't have good ideas if you aren't willing to be responsible for them.
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You can measure a programmer's perspective by noting his attitude on the continuing vitality of FORTRAN.
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One can only display complex information in the mind. Like seeing, movement or flow or alteration of view is more important than the static picture, no matter how lovely.
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In the long run, every program becomes rococo, and then rubble.
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In computing, the mean time to failure keeps getting shorter.
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To understand a program, you must become both the machine and the program.
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Once you understand how to write a program get someone else to write it.
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If your computer speaks English, it was probably made in Japan.
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Simplicity does not precede complexity, but follows it.
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Syntactic sugar causes cancer of the semicolon.
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