Brian Kernighan

Good code is its own best documentation.

The key to successful program design is to think in terms of interfaces.

In software, we are still struggling with the problem of complexity.

C gives you all the bottom turtles. All the way down.

The UNIX philosophy is to have small tools that do one thing well.

Programming languages should be designed not to require the programmer to lie.

Data structures are the heart of computing.

The first 90% of the code accounts for the first 90% of the development time. The remaining 10% of the code accounts for the other 90% of the development time.

Write programs that do one thing and do it well.

The best programs are written so that computing machines can perform them quickly.

In computing, the mean time to failure keeps getting shorter.

Interfaces get in the way, or, more accurately, too much of a good thing gets in the way.

The practice of programming is more art than science.

C is a sharp tool; use it with care.

The shell is the most powerful tool in UNIX.

Good software engineering involves the use of abstractions.

The art of programming is the art of managing complexity.

In the end, software is about solving problems for people.

UNIX is basically a simple operating system, but you have to be a genius to understand the simplicity.

Modularity is the key to good design.