Alan Perlis Quotes

'Programming' is a four-letter word.

There has never been an unexpectedly short debugging period in the history of computers.

It was used for decades to describe talented computer enthusiasts, people whose skill at using computers to solve technical problems and puzzles was - and is - respected and admired by others possessing similar technical skills.

The three chief virtues of a programmer are: Laziness, Impatience and Hubris.

Depending on the kind of code you write, depending on the kind of ideas you have, you can be creative in problem-solving and you can really make things work in a very gratifying way.

One of the headaches of high-tech test programmes is having to debug the test arrangements before you can start debugging the things you're trying to test.

I do as much debugging as possible on the Mac, but I occasionally must debug problems in the PC world, which is significantly slower.

As a kid, I was always into art at the same time as computers, and eventually I realised I was making more interesting stuff with my keyboard than with my hands. I really enjoyed modifying computer games more than playing them, so that got me into programming.

It always helps to be a good programmer. It is important to like computers and to be able to think of things people would want to do with their computers.

Writing software is a very intense, very personal thing. You have to have time to work your way through it, to understand it. Then debug it.

I've been programming computers since elementary school, where they taught us, and I stuck with computer science through high school and college.

When you say 'I wrote a program that crashed Windows,' people just stare at you blankly and say 'Hey, I got those with the system, for free.'

Technical problems are like gremlins. They come and go.

Imagine if every Thursday your shoes exploded if you tied them the usual way. This happens to us all the time with computers, and nobody thinks of complaining.

I had almost rewritten all of the display code for windows, and that was when I gave up.

I asked for more information because I am unable to unscrew the inscrutable.

The difference between a hacker and consumer is a consumer says, "I wish it would work this way." A hacker says, "I've got a screwdriver and a few minutes.

I enjoy evangelizing Java. In my heart of hearts, I'm an engineer, and what makes me happy is building something that works and having someone use it. That's cool.

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

Computers in general, and software in particular, are much more difficult than other kinds of technology for most people to grok, and they overwhelm us with a sense of mystery.

Programmers are very creative people. And animators are problem solvers, just as programmers are.

In programming, as in everything else, to be in error is to be reborn.

The process of debugging, going an correcting the program and then looking at the behavior, and then correcting it again, and finally iteratively getting it to a working program, is in fact, very close to learning about learning.

If my people look as if they're in a dreadful fix, it's because I can't get them out of a technical dilemma.

Anyone can squash a bug but all professors of this world couldn't build one.