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Computers are good at following instructions, but not at reading your mind.

Donald Knuth

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Donald Knuth
Age: 86
Born: 1938
Born: January 10
Academic
Computer Scientist
Engineer
Historian Of Mathematics
Mathematician
Programmer
University Teacher
Writer
Milwaukee City
Wisconsin
Donald E. Knuth
Don Knuth
Donald Ervin Knuth
D.E.K.
DEK
Knuth
Following
Computer
Reading
Mind
Instructions
Good
Computing
Computers
Instruction
Programming

More quotes by Donald Knuth

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It would be nice if we could design a virtual reality in Hyperbolic Space, and meet each other there.
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If you find that you're spending almost all your time on theory, start turning some attention to practical things it will improve your theories. If you find that you're spending almost all your time on practice, start turning some attention to theoretical things it will improve your practice.
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I'm obsessively detail-oriented.
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The designer of a new kind of system must participate fully in the implementation.
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By understanding a machine-oriented language, the programmer will tend to use a much more efficient method it is much closer to reality.
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Computer programming is an art, because it applies accumulated knowledge to the world, because it requires skill and ingenuity, and especially because it produces objects of beauty. A programmer who subconsciously views himself as an artist will enjoy what he does and will do it better.
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There's ways to amuse yourself while doing things and thats how I look at efficency.
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The enjoyment of one's tools is an essential ingredient of successful work.
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The manuals we got from IBM would show examples of programs and I knew I could do a heck of a lot better than that. So I thought I might have some talent.
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I currently use Ubuntu Linux, on a standalone laptop - it has no Internet connection. I occasionally carry flash memory drives between this machine and the Macs that I use for network surfing and graphics but I trust my family jewels only to Linux.
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Programming is legitimate and necessary academic endeavour.
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The most important thing in the programming language is the name. A language will not succeed without a good name. I have recently invented a very good name and now I am looking for a suitable language.
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Any inaccuracies in this index may be explained by the fact that it has been prepared with the help of a computer.
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Let us change our traditional attitude to the construction of programs. Instead of imagining that our main task is to instruct a computer what to do, let us concentrate rather on explaining to human beings what we want a computer to do.
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An algorithm must be seen to be believed.
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My first program taught me a lot about the errors that I was going to be making in the future, and also about how to find errors. That's sort of the story of my life, making errors and trying to recover from them. I try to get things correct. I probably obsess about not making too many mistakes.
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It is much more rewarding to do more with less.
Donald Knuth
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I remember that mathematicians were telling me in the 1960s that they would recognize computer science as a mature discipline when it had 1,000 deep algorithms. I think we've probably reached 500.
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Everyday life is like programming, I guess. If you love something you can put beauty into it.
Donald Knuth
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The best practice is inspired by theory.
Donald Knuth