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I think it is inevitable that people program poorly. Training will not substantially help matters. We have to learn to live with it.

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
Helping
Matters
Live
Program
Matter
Computer
Think
Training
Substantially
Thinking
Learning
Poorly
People
Technology
Programming
Help
Treatment
Learn
Inevitable

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In man-machine symbiosis, it is man who must adjust: The machines can't.
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Adapting old programs to fit new machines usually means adapting new machines to behave like old ones.
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Motto for a research laboratory: what we work on today, others will first think of tomorrow.
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We toast the Lisp programmer who pens his thoughts within nests of parentheses.
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Because of its vitality, the computing field is always in desperate need of new cliches: Banality soothes our nerves.
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If a listener nods his head when you're explaining your program, wake him up.
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There are two ways to write error-free programs only the third one works.
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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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Is it possible that software is not like anything else, that it is meant to be discarded: that the whole point is to always see it as a soap bubble?
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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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The best book on programming for the layman is Alice in Wonderland, but that's because it's the best book on anything for the layman.
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It goes against the grain of modern education to teach children to program. What fun is there in making plans, acquiring discipline in organizing thoughts, devoting attention to detail and learning to be self-critical?
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Any noun can be verbed.
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Some programming languages manage to absorb change, but withstand progress.
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Syntactic sugar causes cancer of the semicolon.
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In English every word can be verbed.
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Once you understand how to write a program get someone else to write it.
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There is no such thing as a free variable.
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In software systems it is often the early bird that makes the worm.
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It is easier to change the specification to fit the program than vice versa.
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