Quote

The designer of a new kind of system must participate fully in the implementation.

Donald Knuth

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

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
Design
System
Must
Kind
Implementation
Participate
Software
Designer
Fully

More quotes by Donald Knuth

Image
Beware of bugs in the above code I have only proved it correct, not tried it.
Donald Knuth
Image
Any inaccuracies in this index may be explained by the fact that it has been prepared with the help of a computer.
Donald Knuth
Image
I've never been a good estimator of how long things are going to take.
Donald Knuth
Image
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.
Donald Knuth
Image
Science is what we understand well enough to explain to a computer. Art is everything else we do.
Donald Knuth
Image
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
Image
I'm obsessively detail-oriented.
Donald Knuth
Image
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.
Donald Knuth
Image
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.
Donald Knuth
Image
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.
Donald Knuth
Image
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.
Donald Knuth
Image
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.
Donald Knuth
Image
I have a hunch that the unknown sequences of DNA will decode into copyright notices and patent protections.
Donald Knuth
Image
Random numbers should not be generated with a method chosen at random
Donald Knuth
Image
It would be nice if we could design a virtual reality in Hyperbolic Space, and meet each other there.
Donald Knuth
Image
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
Donald Knuth
Image
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.
Donald Knuth
Image
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
Image
An algorithm must be seen to be believed.
Donald Knuth
Image
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.
Donald Knuth