Ask HN: What are your favourite computer programming quotes

#1

Post by bobnarizes » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 10:16 AM UTC

Please also write the author

Re: Ask HN: What are your favourite computer programming quotes

#2

Post by BlueKitt » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 10:49 AM UTC

This is my favourite one: Programming is like kicking yourself in the face, sooner or later your nose will bleed. Kyle Woodbury

Re: Ask HN: What are your favourite computer programming quotes

#3

Post by LukasRos » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 10:55 AM UTC

Right now I can think of one which is not about programming itself but uses a programming analogy to explain politics:

"Being POTUS must be like inheriting a 240 year old code base and being asked to fix it in 4 years while half your team tries to sandbag you."

source: https://twitter.com/gblache/status/784201528110448640

Re: Ask HN: What are your favourite computer programming quotes

#4

Post by somecallitblues » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 11:00 AM UTC

Never deploy shit on Friday! (Colleague)

Re: Ask HN: What are your favourite computer programming quotes

#5

Post by aargh_aargh » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 11:05 AM UTC

"We should forget about small efficiencies, say about 97% of the time: premature optimization is the root of all evil." --Donald Knuth

Re: Ask HN: What are your favourite computer programming quotes

#6

Post by aargh_aargh » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 11:05 AM UTC

"There are only two hard things in Computer Science: cache invalidation and naming things." -- Phil Karlton

Re: Ask HN: What are your favourite computer programming quotes

#7

Post by aargh_aargh » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 11:08 AM UTC

"It's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission." --Grace Hopper

Re: Ask HN: What are your favourite computer programming quotes

#8

Post by aargh_aargh » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 11:09 AM UTC

"Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." -- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

(Programming wasn't the original context; design in general was.)

Re: Ask HN: What are your favourite computer programming quotes

#9

Post by dasboth » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 11:53 AM UTC

aargh_aargh wrote: post #6

"There are only two hard things in Computer Science: cache invalidation and naming things." -- Phil Karlton

I know this as "There are only two hard things in Computer Science: cache invalidation, naming things, and off-by-one errors."

Re: Ask HN: What are your favourite computer programming quotes

#10

Post by jamesmp98 » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 12:10 PM UTC

“PHP is a minor evil perpetrated and created by incompetent amateurs, whereas Perl is a great and insidious evil, perpetrated by skilled but perverted professionals.”

— Jon Ribbens