Edsger W. Dijkstra Quotes
Collection of top 48 famous quotes about Edsger W. Dijkstra
Edsger W. Dijkstra Quotes & Sayings
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About the use of language: it is impossible to sharpen a pencil with a blunt axe. It is equally vain to try to do it with ten blunt axes instead.
— Edsger Dijkstra
Object-oriented programming is an exceptionally bad idea which could only have originated in California.
— Edsger Dijkstra
Beware of "the real world". A speaker's apeal to it is always an invitation not to challenge his tacit assumptions.
— Edsger Dijkstra
It used to be the program's purpose to instruct our computers; it became the computer's purpose to execute our programs.
— Edsger Dijkstra
The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than the question of whether a submarine can swim.
— Edsger W. Dijkstra
Mathematicians are like managers - they want improvement without change.
— Edsger Dijkstra
The effective exploitation of his powers of abstraction must be regarded as one of the most vital activities of a competent programmer.
— Edsger Dijkstra
Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes
— Edsger W. Dijkstra
Besides a mathematical inclination, an exceptionally good mastery of one's native tongue is the most vital asset of a competent programmer.
— Edsger W. Dijkstra
Brainpower is by far our scarcest resource.
— Edsger Dijkstra
The purpose of abstraction is not to be vague, but to create a new semantic level in which one can be absolutely precise.
— Edsger Dijkstra
It is not the task of the University to offer what society asks for, but to give what society needs.
— Edsger Dijkstra
I don't need to waste my time with a computer just because I am a computer scientist.
— Edsger Dijkstra
The use of COBOL cripples the mind; its teaching should, therefore, be regarded as a criminal offense.
— Edsger W. Dijkstra
Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability.
— Edsger W. Dijkstra
The tools we use have a profound and devious influence on our thinking habits, and therefore on our thinking abilities.
— Edsger Dijkstra
We must be very careful when we give advice to younger people: sometimes they follow it!
— Edsger Dijkstra
In the software business there are many enterprises for which it is not clear that science can help them; that science should try is not clear either.
— Edsger Dijkstra
The ability of discerning high quality unavoidably implies the ability of identifying shortcomings.
— Edsger Dijkstra
There should be no such thing as boring mathematics.
— Edsger Dijkstra
Beauty is our business.
— Edsger Dijkstra
Computer science has as much to do with computers as astronomy has to do with telescopes.
— Edsger Dijkstra
The problems of the real world are primarily those you are left with when you refuse to apply their effective solutions.
— Edsger Dijkstra
Teaching to unsuspecting youngsters the effective use of formal methods is one of the joys of life because it is so extremely rewarding.
— Edsger Dijkstra
The lurking suspicion that something could be simplified is the world's richest source of rewarding challenges.
— Edsger Dijkstra
Elegance is not a dispensable luxury but a factor that decides between success and failure.
— Edsger Dijkstra
Too few people recognize that the high technology so celebrated today is essentially a mathematical technology.
— Edsger Dijkstra
Don't compete with me: firstly, I have more experience, and secondly, I have chosen the weapons.
— Edsger Dijkstra
Program testing can be used to show the presence of bugs, but never to show their absence!
— Edsger W. Dijkstra
Progress is possible only if we train ourselves to think about programs without thinking of them as pieces of executable code.
— Edsger W. Dijkstra
The computing scientist's main challenge is not to get confused by the complexities of his own making.
— Edsger Dijkstra
Probably I am very naive, but I also think I prefer to remain so, at least for the time being and perhaps for the rest of my life.
— Edsger Dijkstra
The prisoner falls in love with his chains.
— Edsger Dijkstra
Aim for brevity while avoiding jargon.
— Edsger Dijkstra
Perfecting oneself is as much unlearning as it is learning.
— Edsger Dijkstra
Teaching COBOL ought to be regarded as a criminal act.
— Edsger Dijkstra
A programming language is a tool that has profound influence on our thinking habits.
— Edsger Dijkstra
I would therefore like to posit that computing's central challenge, how not to make a mess of it, has not yet been met.
— Edsger Dijkstra
If there is one 'scientific' discovery I am proud of, it is the discovery of the habit of writing without publication in mind.
— Edsger Dijkstra
Simplicity and elegance are unpopular because thy require hard work and discipline to achieve and education to be appreciated.
— Edsger W. Dijkstra
The question of whether computers can think is like the question of whether submarines can swim.
— Edsger Dijkstra
If debugging is the process of removing software bugs, then programming must be the process of putting them in.
— Edsger Dijkstra
Much of the excitement we get out of our work is that we don't really know what we are doing.
— Edsger Dijkstra
Mentally mutilated potential programmers beyond hope of regeneration.
— Edsger Dijkstra
