“Most programs are not write-once. They are reworked and rewritten again and again in their lived. Bugs must be debugged. Changing requirements and the need for increased functionality mean the program itself may be modified on an ongoing basis. During this process, human beings must be able to read and understand the original code. It is therefore more important by far for humans to be able to understand the program than it is for the computer.” NeedsWritingHumansMayMeanImportantAbleProcessHuman BeingsComputerProgramBasesOriginalsCodeAgain And AgainRequirementsBugsOngoingFunctionality Author:Yukihiro Matsumoto
“The general direction of evolution is to produce a serially imprinting, multibrained creature able to decipher its own program, create the technology to leave the planet and live in post-terrestrial mini-worlds, decode the aging sectors of the DNA code--thus assuring immortality, and act in harmony with stages of evolution to come.” WorldAbleTechnologyStageProducePlanetsEvolutionCreaturesProgramHarmonyAgingPostsCodeImmortalityDnaDecipherImprinting Author:Timothy Leary
“When we take a top-tier view of the amount of code showing up inside of Linux today that is either directly related to our Unix System 5 that we directly own or is related to one of our flavors of Unix that we have derivative works rights over--we don't necessarily own those flavors, but we have control rights over how that information gets disseminated--the amount is substantial. We're not talking about just lines of code; we're talking about entire programs. We're talking about hundred [sic] of thousands of lines of code.” TodayLinesViewsTalkingRightsInformationAmountHundredProgramCodeRelatedFlavorNot TalkingShowing UpDerivativesLinuxUnix Author:Darl McBride
“Proprietary software tends to have malicious features. The point is with a proprietary program, when the users dont have the source code, we can never tell. So you must consider every proprietary program as potential malware.” SourceProgramCodeFeaturesSoftwareUsersMalicious Author:Richard Stallman
“I have met bright students in computer science who have never seen the source code of a large program. They may be good at writing small programs, but they can't begin to learn the different skills of writing large ones if they can't see how others have done it.” IfsWritingMayDifferentDoneStudentsSourceMetsSkillsComputerProgramBe GoodCodeComputer Science Book:Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays of Richard M. Stallman Source: Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays of Richard M. Stallman
“Programmers are always surrounded by complexity; we cannot avoid it.... If our basic tool, the language in which we design and code our programs, is also complicated, the language itself becomes part of the problem rather than part of its solution.” IfsProblemLanguageDesignSolutionsProgramToolsComplicatedCodeComplexityProgrammers Author:Tony Hoare
“It is a mistake to think that programmers wares are programs. Programmers have to produce trustworthy solutions and present it in the form of cogent arguments. Programs source code is just the accompanying material to which these arguments are to be applied to.” ThinkingFormMistakeProduceMaterialsSourceSolutionsProgramArgumentCodeProgrammersTrustworthy Author:Edsger Dijkstra
“Learning how to code and program computers when I was a kid was one of the best choices I made growing up. By writing code, I learned how to bring my dreams to life, how to budget, and how to build stuff. Whatever path you choose in life - being an artist, an engineer, a lawyer, a teacher, or even a politician, you will give yourself a huge leg up if you learn how to code.” IfsGivingWritingMadeDreamKidsArtistChoicesStuffGrowing UpPathTeacherGrowingHugePoliticianComputerProgramLegsLawyerCodeBudgetsYou ChooseEngineersBeing An ArtistWriting Code Author:Robert Glaser
“We’re no longer in the days where every program is super well crafted. But at the heart of the programs that make it to the top, you’ll find that the key internal code was done by a few people who really knew what they were doing.” PeopleKnowsWellsHeartDoneKeysProgramCodeInternals Author:Bill Gates
“While the creative works from the 16th century can still be accessed and used by others, the data in some software programs from the 1990s is already inaccessible. Once a company that produces a certain product goes out of business, it has no simple way to uncover how its product encoded data. The code is thus lost, and the software is inaccessible. Knowledge has been destroyed.” WayHas BeensStillsUsedCertainLostSimpleCompanyCreativeCenturyProduceProductsProgramDestroyedDataCodeSoftwareCreative WorkInaccessibleSimple Ways Author:Lawrence Lessig
“The manual for WordStar, the most popular word-processing program, is 400 pages thick. To write a novel, you have to read a novel - one that reads like a mystery to most people. They're not going to learn slash q-z any more than they're going to learn Morse code. That is what Macintosh is all about.” PeopleWritingNovelMysteryPagesProgramCodeThickManualsProcessingMacintoshMorse Code Author:Steve Jobs
“There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies. The first method is far more difficult.” WayFirstsTwoDifficultSimpleDesignHumorousProgramMethodObviousWittyComplicatedOne WayCodeComplexityProgrammingSoftwareEngineeringTwo WaysProgrammersComputer ProgrammingComputer ScienceDeficiencyProgramming LanguagesComputer LanguageDevelopersSoftware EngineeringSoftware DesignComputer ProgrammersSoftware DevelopmentComputer SoftwareSimplicity In DesignFunny ComputerProgramming FunnySimplicity And EleganceSimple And ComplexProgress And Development Author:Tony Hoare