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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%

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
Roots
Optimization
Small
Debugging
Forget
Premature
Evil
Efficiency
Opportunity
Root
Time
Opportunities
Critical
Pass
Efficiencies

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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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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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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 can’t go to a restaurant and order food because I keep looking at the fonts on the menu.
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Computers are good at following instructions, but not at reading your mind.
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The designer of a new kind of system must participate fully in the implementation.
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There's ways to amuse yourself while doing things and thats how I look at efficency.
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Meta-design is much more difficult than design it's easier to draw something than to explain how to draw it.
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Science is knowledge which we understand so well that we can teach it to a computer and if we don't fully understand something, it is an art to deal with 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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We should forget about small efficiencies, say about 97% of the time: premature optimization is the root of all evil.
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A list is only as strong as its weakest link.
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I define UNIX as 30 definitions of regular expressions living under one roof.
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I try to learn certain areas of computer science exhaustively then I try to digest that knowledge into a form that is accessible to people who don't have time for such study.
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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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A mathematical formula should never be owned by anybody! Mathematics belong to God.
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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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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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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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An algorithm must be seen to be believed.
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