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Every program has (at least) two purposes: the one for which it was written and another for which it wasn't.

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
Another
Computing
Two
Purposes
Every
Programming
Program
Wasn
Least
Written
Purpose

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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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In software systems it is often the early bird that makes the worm.
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It is better to have 100 functions operate on one data structure than to have 10 functions operate on 10 data structures.
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Learning French is trivial: the word for horse is cheval, and everything else follows in the same way.
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FORTRAN is not a flower but a weed - it is hardy, occasionally blooms, and grows in every computer.
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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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In programming, as in everything else, to be in error is to be reborn.
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If a listener nods his head when you're explaining your program, wake him up.
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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.
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Any noun can be verbed.
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To understand a program, you must become both the machine and the program.
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In English every word can be verbed.
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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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Some programming languages manage to absorb change, but withstand progress.
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If your computer speaks English, it was probably made in Japan.
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There is no such thing as a free variable.
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A picture is worth 10K words - but only those to describe the picture. Hardly any sets of 10K words can be adequately described with pictures.
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One man's constant is another man's variable.
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A LISP programmer knows the value of everything, but the cost of nothing.
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C programmers never die. They are just cast into void.
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