James Gosling

Computer Science Canadian 1955 361 quotes

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)

I think the future of computing is in distributed systems, where everything is connected and talking to everything else.

Interview/Correspondence

Good software is like a good joke. It doesn't need to be explained.

Interview/Correspondence

The biggest mistake you can make is to try to please everyone.

Interview/Correspondence

I'm an optimist by nature. I believe that technology can solve a lot of the world's problems.

Interview/Correspondence

I've always been drawn to challenging problems. The harder the problem, the more interesting it is.

Interview/Correspondence

The most important thing in a team is trust. If you don't trust each other, you can't build anything great.

Interview/Correspondence

I'm not afraid to make mistakes. That's how you learn.

Interview/Correspondence

The beauty of open source is that it allows everyone to contribute and make things better.

Interview/Correspondence

I believe in building things that are useful, not just cool.

Interview/Correspondence

The best way to learn is by doing.

Interview/Correspondence

I'm a big believer in the power of collaboration.

Interview/Correspondence

The world is constantly changing, and we need to adapt with it.

Interview/Correspondence

I've always tried to surround myself with smart people.

Interview/Correspondence

The most exciting part of my job is seeing what people do with the tools I've created.

Interview/Correspondence

Don't be afraid to challenge the status quo.

Interview/Correspondence

The key to success is persistence.

Interview/Correspondence

I'm always looking for new ways to solve old problems.

Interview/Correspondence

The best ideas often come from unexpected places.

Interview/Correspondence

I believe in giving back to the community.

Interview/Correspondence

The future is not something that happens to us, it's something we create.

Interview/Correspondence