Dijkstra wasn’t IO-bound.
Edsger Dijkstra carried computer science on his shoulders (2020)
121–130 of 229 posts
Re: Edsger Dijkstra carried computer science on his shoulders (2020)
#122Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes. He was interested in problem-solving, not philosophizing. The debates about AI going on right now are the kind he’d prefer to avoid.
To be fair, 10+ years ago this conversation definitely would have been pretty silly. Maybe about as interesting as asking "is there other life in the universe". No one knows the answer, it's an incredibly over discussed topic, and we won't know for sure for many years. I think those points still apply to AI intelligence today. However, the power of today's AI greatly outstrips anything Djikstra would have seen in his…
The improvement of AI lately doesn't invalidate his point though. I'm sure submarine technology has similarly improved but it's still irrelevant whether or not a submarine can be said to 'swim' not.
Re: Edsger Dijkstra carried computer science on his shoulders (2020)
#123Earlier quoted context omitted.
The whole structured programming practically birthed the industry, so it’s hard to say he has less direct impact in the industry though.
It was controversial at the time. Dijkstra advocated "single entry, single exit" for each control block. Programs should be composed of such blocks. Makes for very neat flowcharts. Good for entry and exit conditions. Single entry wasn't that controversial. Single exit, though, means no "break", or "continue" for loops, and no early returns from functions. This forces a rather convoluted style. Try writing a loop of t…
Well, anybody that completely redefines an area of knowledge is doomed to get one or two details wrong on the first try.
Re: Edsger Dijkstra carried computer science on his shoulders (2020)
#124Dijkstra wasn’t IO-bound.
Exactly, almost nobody is, except for stenographers.
Re: Edsger Dijkstra carried computer science on his shoulders (2020)
#125Earlier quoted context omitted.
The quote claims it's irrelevant, not relevant (to something).
Well, it is relevant to the current discussion.
https://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/transcriptions/EWD08xx/E...
Here's the context since it's been quoted without providing it.
Re: Edsger Dijkstra carried computer science on his shoulders (2020)
#126There are more anecdotes about Dijkstra in this collection of testimonials written by his friends, colleagues, and students: https://arxiv.org/abs/2104.03392 . These are some of my favorites: From Tony Hoare: They removed recursion from Algol 60, on the grounds of its alleged inefficiency. Edsger's answer was that recursion was a useful programming tool, and every workman should be allowed to fall in love with their…
These are great.
Re: Edsger Dijkstra carried computer science on his shoulders (2020)
#127He carried the Witcher spy network too.
Re: Edsger Dijkstra carried computer science on his shoulders (2020)
#128Earlier quoted context omitted.
3 WPM really shook me as well. Today we complain about not having enough time to work on our projects, but back in the good old days, as successful as Dijkstra was, got time to spend 3 WPM and still produced close to 7k articles! Astonishing.
At least as I see my colleagues who buy special keyboards to type code faster and still being hellishly unproductive, deleting and rewriting while I prefer to think before typing and have a solution that works when I type it in instead of iterating over solutions that cannot work in the first place. When I type it's fast, I just don't do it so much compared to my peers, but I am more productive delivering working cod…
I'm generally with you in terms of think—then—write, and wondering how people can write/type rapidly then endlessly edit. But I do have some modes where it works to write out incomplete thoughts, getting them out of my head, and then edit them into something workable.
Perhaps some people just really need to take that to extremes, getting out of their head all their fragmentary or preliminary thoughts, and filtering and working them down on paper or the screen?
It generally seems (to me) that a good-heavy amount of thinking first works best and/or is most productive, but overall, we all have different brains, training, and experiences, so I'd go with: "whatever works for you" (but try multiple methods).
Re: Edsger Dijkstra carried computer science on his shoulders (2020)
#129I was a grad student in Austin in the 1990s. If Dijkstra showed up for one of the regular department-wide "lunch and learn" type talks, there was a bit of a buzz among the grad students in the room... you knew he was going to pop off with a total left-field question and the results would be pretty entertaining. Free cookies AND comic humiliation from a giant in the field! It was standing-room-only.
Did they have samosas from Ken’s at grad tea time back then? :)
Re: Edsger Dijkstra carried computer science on his shoulders (2020)
#130I was a grad student in Austin in the 1990s. If Dijkstra showed up for one of the regular department-wide "lunch and learn" type talks, there was a bit of a buzz among the grad students in the room... you knew he was going to pop off with a total left-field question and the results would be pretty entertaining. Free cookies AND comic humiliation from a giant in the field! It was standing-room-only.
Any stories that stand out/are worth sharing?