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I always liked to ask myself "what's the first principle(s) of this?" after I learned the basic stuff of something (e.g. programming). It's an inspiring question, IMO, that can force you to think about the most important principle(s) behind something, especially a skill such as programming.

So, what do you think is the first principle(s) of programming? I'll give my answer below a little later.

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  • We do not talk about fight club.
    – Job
    Commented Jul 10, 2011 at 14:25

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The Binary System

0 + 1 = 1
1 + 1 = 10
10 + 1 = 11
11 + 1 = 100
100 + 1 = 101
101 + 1 = 110

Get it?

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    Can't vote down right now. But will do :D
    – pongba
    Commented Oct 1, 2008 at 19:19
  • Don't like my humor? Ok, but it is a real answer. The "founding fathers" of programming coded in binary. The first principle of programming is binary. Its all based on binary. Get it?
    – dacracot
    Commented Oct 1, 2008 at 19:24
  • We don't need to get it anymore. That's why they invented assembly, C, C++ and all the other high level languages. Binary can take a hike. ;)
    – Jeff Yates
    Commented Oct 1, 2008 at 19:27
  • There's no practical gain in knowing that, because it's too basic and simple to be constructive in any scenario. And because everybody knows it.
    – pongba
    Commented Oct 1, 2008 at 19:27
  • Oh really! Tell that to the engineers at Intel who created a math error... query.nytimes.com/gst/…
    – dacracot
    Commented Oct 1, 2008 at 19:32
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