Barbara Liskov
Developed the Liskov Substitution Principle and a pioneer in programming language design.
Most quoted
"If for each object o1 of type S there is an object o2 of type T such that for all programs P defined in terms of T, the behavior of P remains unchanged when o1 is substituted for o2, then S is a subtype of T."
— from A Behavioral Notion of Subtyping, 1994
"If for each object o1 of type S there is an object o2 of type T such that for all programs P defined in terms of T, the behavior of P is unchanged when o1 is substituted for o2 then S is a subtype of T."
— from Paper, 1987
"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 Attributed (often to Saint-Exupéry, but used in her context)
All quotes by Barbara Liskov (315)
If for each object o1 of type S there is an object o2 of type T such that for all programs P defined in terms of T, the behavior of P is unchanged when o1 is substituted for o2 then S is a subtype of T.
Abstraction is the key to managing complexity in software design.
In programming languages, the structure should reflect the semantics.
Modularity allows us to build systems that can evolve over time.
The beauty of computer science lies in its ability to model the world abstractly.
Women in tech must persist despite the barriers; resilience is our greatest tool.
Distributed systems are inherently complex because of concurrency and failure.
Innovation in CS comes from questioning the status quo.
Type safety prevents many runtime errors before they occur.
Teaching is as much about inspiring curiosity as imparting knowledge.
The CLU language was designed to enforce abstraction boundaries strictly.
In life, as in code, small changes can have profound impacts.
Fault tolerance is not optional in real-world systems.
Mentoring the next generation is my most rewarding contribution.
Polymorphism enables flexibility without sacrificing safety.
Computer science is a field where theory meets practice daily.
Overcoming gender biases in academia requires collective effort.
Argus system showed how to handle transactions in distributed environments.
Wisdom in programming is knowing when to abstract and when to detail.
The Turing Award was a recognition of persistent inquiry.
Contemporaries of Barbara Liskov
Other Computer Sciences born within 50 years of Barbara Liskov (1939).