Quote

The psychological profiling [of a programmer] is mostly the ability to shift levels of abstraction, from low level to high level. To see something in the small and to see something in the large.

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
High
Shift
Ability
Mostly
Something
Psychological
Lows
Large
Profiling
Level
Programmer
Levels
Programmers
Small
Abstraction

More quotes by Donald Knuth

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I'm obsessively detail-oriented.
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We should forget about small efficiencies, say about 97% of the time: premature optimization is the root of all evil. Yet we should not pass up our opportunities in that critical 3%
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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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Beware of bugs in the above code I have only proved it correct, not tried it.
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I define UNIX as 30 definitions of regular expressions living under one roof.
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TeX has found at least one bug in every Pascal compiler it's been run on, I think, and at least two in every C compiler
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I've never been a good estimator of how long things are going to take.
Donald Knuth
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An algorithm must be seen to be believed.
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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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My general working style is to write everything first with pencil and paper, sitting beside a big wastebasket. Then I use Emacs to enter the text into my machine.
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I decry the current tendency to seek patents on algorithms. There are better ways to earn a living than to prevent other people from making use of one's contributions to computer science.
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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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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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People think that computer science is the art of geniuses but the actual reality is the opposite, just many people doing things that build on each other, like a wall of mini stones.
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How can you own numbers? Numbers belong to the world.
Donald Knuth
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People who are more than casually interested in computers should have at least some idea of what the underlying hardware is like. Otherwise the programs they write will be pretty weird.
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The designer of a new kind of system must participate fully in the implementation.
Donald Knuth
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The sun comes up just about as often as it goes down, in the long run, but this doesn't make its motion random.
Donald Knuth
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Everyday life is like programming, I guess. If you love something you can put beauty into it.
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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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