James Gosling
Often credited as the father of the Java programming language.
Most quoted
"Debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place. Therefore, if you write the code as cleverly as you can, you are, by definition, not smart enough to debug it."
— from Commonly attributed/quoted by him
"The problem with C++ is that it's too easy to shoot yourself in the foot. Java is much harder to shoot yourself in the foot with, but when you do, you blow your whole leg off."
— from Interview/Presentation, 1996
"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea."
— from often attributed to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, but Gosling has used it in context of software development
All quotes by James Gosling (361)
Java is C++ without the guns, knives, and clubs.
The problem with C++ is that it's too easy to shoot yourself in the foot. Java is much harder to shoot yourself in the foot with, but when you do, you blow your whole leg off.
I have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm doing it really well.
The biggest mistake I made was not patenting the semicolon.
The only way to do great work is to love what you do.
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
The best way to predict the future is to invent it.
It's not a bug, it's a feature.
I'm not a great programmer; I'm just a good programmer with great habits.
The only constant in the technology industry is change.
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
The most important property of a program is whether it accomplishes the intention of its user.
Good design is as little design as possible.
The art of debugging is knowing what to throw away.
The only way to learn a new programming language is by writing programs in it.
I don't care if it works on your machine! We are not shipping your machine!
The best code is no code at all.
Software is like sex: it's better when it's free.
The greatest danger in software is not complexity, but the illusion of simplicity.
If you optimize everything, you will always be unhappy.
Contemporaries of James Gosling
Other Computer Sciences born within 50 years of James Gosling (1955).