What's your favourite quote about programming?
One quote per answer, and please check for duplicates before posting!
166 Answers
The best indication of software quality is consistent indentation
I read this when I was following up footnotes in SICP once but I've not been able to find it since, so a) I can't attribute it and b) I am writing from memory, and more than likely paraphrasing. I have, however, found it to be true.
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ironic that people don't use IDEs with automatic indentation, then. Mar 5, 2011 at 8:19
Release early. Release often. -- Eric S. Raymond
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Popularized by Eric S. Raymond in "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" (catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/cathedral-bazaar). The third part of ESR's quote is "And listen to your customers." Sep 9, 2010 at 18:12
Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.
-Robert Heinlein
As a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information.
— Benjamin Disraeli
The whole history of this invention has been a struggle against time.
— Charles Babbage on the Analytical Engine, 1837
Skill Appreciates Skill
(Or, It Takes One to Know One)
I have often felt that programming is an art form,
whose real value can only be appreciated
by another versed in the same arcane art;
there are lovely gems and brilliant coups
hidden from human view and admiration, sometimes forever,
by the very nature of the process.
You can learn a lot about an individual
just by reading through his code, even in hexadecimal.
From The Story of Mel, a Real Programmer (free verse version)
I had no idea there was actually a short Wikipedia article with links to both prose and verse versions of the story, along with other information.
Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem
(Keep it simple, stupid)
Years ago I ran across a poster that had the Latin expression with the English translation under it.
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2I don't think it's ironic, because the latin is "Occam's Razor" and most people, myself included, won't understand the Latin.– Mark COct 21, 2010 at 19:10
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@Mark - Ah, thanks. I didn't realize it was Occam's Razor. "Entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity" (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam's_razor).– PaperjamOct 23, 2010 at 17:27
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I generally prefer h2g2 to Wikipedia: the writing's better quality. bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A21648783– TRiGDec 1, 2010 at 19:09
Keep it Simple!
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2
XML is like violence - if it doesn’t solve your problems, you are not using enough of it.
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Children, please don't forget that violence is no solution...it's an instrument to accomplish a solution.– BobbyDec 28, 2010 at 11:06
Programming is an art form that fights back
-- Unknown
Note: especially when you're oncall...
True story:
I was doing a project for school in c++ and needless to say there was some compiler wrestling. As I got more pissed of I started naming my test functions shit with fuck variants for variables. At some point to every-bodies amusement I yelled "Why isn't this fuck pointing to shit?!?!?"
Impossible is Nothing
Although belongs to Adidas, but fits Software development well.
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This is especially priceless when your boss comes armed with that, and a change request which is essentially the halting problem. "I don't care about your fancy-schmancy CS theory; you will make it work, to be delivered next week, because I already billed the client for it. Impossible is nothing, right? RIGHT!?" (not surprisingly, that person is no longer my boss) Feb 8, 2011 at 9:54
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Yes right, and really impossible is nothing. Why should one posses a CS Degree if he isn't capable to make things work the way they should. Feb 8, 2011 at 9:58
Comments in code are like sex. When they are good -- it's very, very good. But when they are bad, they are better than nothing.
-- Anonymous
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4"Out of date and now just misleading" falls under "bad" and that's even worse than nothing. Jan 20, 2011 at 23:26