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)
The Liskov Substitution Principle is often misunderstood, but it's crucial for robust inheritance hierarchies.
We've come a long way in computer science, but there are still many challenges ahead.
The beauty of computer science is that it's constantly evolving.
Don't be afraid to challenge conventional wisdom in your research.
The design of programming languages has a profound impact on how we think about programming.
Building distributed systems requires careful consideration of fault tolerance and consistency.
My early work on CLU was about exploring new ideas in programming language design.
The importance of strong typing cannot be overstated for building reliable software.
We need to encourage more women to pursue careers in computer science.
The ability to reason about your code is paramount.
Good abstractions hide implementation details, allowing us to focus on the essential behavior.
The power of a programming language comes from its ability to express complex ideas simply.
Distributed consensus is a hard problem, but essential for many modern applications.
My advice to young researchers is to find a problem you're passionate about and work on it diligently.
The CLU language introduced many concepts that are now commonplace in modern languages.
We need to design systems that are not only correct but also performant.
The Liskov Substitution Principle is a cornerstone of good object-oriented design.
Understanding the semantics of your programming language is crucial.
The field of computer science is constantly reinventing itself.
My work has always been driven by the desire to make software development more systematic and reliable.
Contemporaries of Barbara Liskov
Other Computer Sciences born within 50 years of Barbara Liskov (1939).