Eric S. Raymond Quotes

And, I think that is actually appropriate because I'm really not the world's best programmer, I think it's a good thing that I'm not touching the code.

So Chuck and I looked at that and we hacked on em for a while, and eventually we ripped the stuff out of em and put some of it into what was then called en, which was really ed with some em features.

Press releases are easier to write than code, and that is still easier than making a great product.

Learning to program has no more to do with designing interactive software than learning to touch type has to do with writing poetry

I'm still a really shitty programmer, but I know enough to hack a prototype together.

There is people who make stuff with words. There is people who make stuff with programs. And I really believe that that whole creative culture, people didn't realize how creative programming is. And anybody who's done it of course knows that not only is it creative, but it's incredibly absorbing.

No matter what, the way to learn to program is to write code and rewrite it and see it used and rewrite again. Reading other people's code is invaluable as well.

I'm a great coder. But I am not pushing that so much anymore because there are thousands of great coders.

The mark of a mature programmer is willingness to throw out code you spent time on when you realize it's pointless.

It's something special being able to build a program up.

Software eventually and necessarily gained the same respect as any other discipline.

I don't like programming. It's tedious.

I did write some code in Java once, but that was the island in Indonesia.

All programming is maintenance programming, because you are rarely writing original code.

C++ is designed to allow you to express ideas, but if you don't have ideas or don't have any clue about how to express them, C++ doesn't offer much help.

Programming is how we talk to the machines that are increasingly woven into our lives. If you aren't a programmer, you're like one of the unlettered people of the Middle Ages who were told what to think by the literate priesthood. We had a Renaissance when more people could read and write; we'll have another one when everyone programs.

The process of preparing programs for a digital computer is especially attractive, not only because it can economically and scientifically rewarding, but also because it can be an aesthetic experience much like composing poetry or music.

I have met bright students in computer science who have never seen the source code of a large program. They may be good at writing small programs, but they can't begin to learn the different skills of writing large ones if they can't see how others have done it.

There's only one trick in software, and that is using a piece of software that's already been written.

The only way to learn a new programming language is by writing programs in it.

Developers, developers, developers, developers.

Portability is for people who cannot write new programs.

Programming is not a science. Programming is a craft.

The most important people is to pick people who like to write software and who are good at... good developers like working with each other. And they... they reinforce each other's skills.

I've known people who have not mastered their tools who are good programmers, but not a tool master who remained a mediocre programmer.