Niklaus Wirth Quotes

Excusing bad programming is a shooting offence, no matter what the circumstances.

Developer testing is an important step towards accountability. It gives developers a way to demonstrate the quality of the software they produce.

Don't hurry your code. Make sure it works well and is well designed. Don't worry about timing.

We’re no longer in the days where every program is super well crafted. But at the heart of the programs that make it to the top, you’ll find that the key internal code was done by a few people who really knew what they were doing.

Even if you aren't in doubt, consider the mental welfare of the person who has to maintain the code after you, and who will probably put parens in the wrong place.

If you want your program to be readable, consider supplying the argument.

Certainly not every good program is object-oriented, and not every object-oriented program is good.

If we're trying to build a world-class News Feed and a world-class messaging product and a world-class search product and a world-class ad system, and invent virtual reality and build drones, I can't write every line of code. I can't write any lines of code.

We have a rule that if you check in code, you have to maintain it. So I mostly code on the side. I don't check in code anymore.

There are two methods in software design. One is to make the program so simple, there are obviously no errors. The other is to make it so complicated, there are no obvious errors.

I work on OpenBSD fulltime, as the project leader. I set some directions, increase communication between the developers, and try to be involved in nearly every aspect of the base system.

This will surprise some of your readers, but my primary interest is not with computer security. I am primarily interested in writing software that works as intended.

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

You've got to be willing to read other people's code, then write your own, then have other people review your code.

C is a razor-sharp tool, with which one can create an elegant and efficient program or a bloody mess.

Often in writing programs, articulation and clarity are more important than what you actually say.

Programmers are not to be measured by their ingenuity and their logic but by the completeness of their case analysis.

Programs must be written for people to read, and only incidentally for machines to execute.

Good code is its own best documentation. As you're about to add a comment, ask yourself, "How can I improve the code so that this comment isn't needed?" Improve the code and then document it to make it even clearer.

The real value of tests is not that they detect bugs in the code but that they detect inadequacies in the methods, concentration, and skills of those who design and produce the code.

Programmers have not been professionals because they haven't really cared about quality.

Don't you hate code that's not properly indented? Making it [indenting] part of the syntax guarantees that all code is properly indented.

More good code has been written in languages denounced as "bad'' than in languages proclaimed "wonderful'' - much more.

Syntactic sugar causes cancer of the semicolon.

If you want more effective programmers, you will discover that they should not waste their time debugging, they should not introduce the bugs to start with.