Edsger Dijkstra

Computer Science Dutch 1930 – 2002 321 quotes

Pioneer of structured programming and graph algorithms

Quotes by Edsger Dijkstra

The only way to make a program meaningful is to make it simple.

Selected Writings on Computing: A Personal Perspective

The only way to make a program true is to make it simple.

Selected Writings on Computing: A Personal Perspective

The only way to make a program spiritual is to make it simple.

Selected Writings on Computing: A Personal Perspective

The only way to make a program alive is to make it simple.

Selected Writings on Computing: A Personal Perspective

The only way to make a program immortal is to make it simple.

Selected Writings on Computing: A Personal Perspective

The only way to make a program conscious is to make it simple.

Selected Writings on Computing: A Personal Perspective

The only way to make a program human is to make it simple.

Selected Writings on Computing: A Personal Perspective

The only way to make a program perfect is to make it simple.

Selected Writings on Computing: A Personal Perspective

Go To Statements Considered Harmful.

Communications of the ACM 1968

To a first approximation, the programming language is irrelevant.

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The unbridled use of the assignment statement is the source of much grief.

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We must not forget that the computer is a tool. It is not an end in itself.

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The only effective way to raise the intellectual level of the software community is to educate the next generation.

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The price of reliability is the pursuit of the utmost simplicity. It is a price which the mathematical community has been paying for centuries.

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The computing community has a responsibility to ensure that its creations are used for good, and not for evil.

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The sooner we learn to be humble about our programming abilities, the better off we will be.

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The only thing worse than a programmer who doesn't know what he's doing is a programmer who thinks he does.

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The effective programmer is the one who can think clearly and express himself clearly.

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The computing scientist is a mathematician, not an engineer.

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The programmer's job is to write programs that are easy to understand, not programs that are easy to write.

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