Alan Perlis
Alan Perlis
Alan Jay Perliswas an American computer scientist known for his pioneering work in programming languages and the first recipient of the Turing Award...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionScientist
Date of Birth1 April 1922
CountryUnited States of America
swag swagger
A picture is worth 10K words - but only those to describe the picture. Hardly any sets of 10K words can be adequately described with pictures.
writing learning thinking
You think you KNOW when you learn, are more sure when you can write, even more when you can teach, but certain when you can program.
soap software discarded
Is it possible that software is not like anything else, that it is meant to be discarded: that the whole point is to always see it as a soap bubble?
learning evolution programming
Optimization hinders evolution.
fun learning self
It goes against the grain of modern education to teach students to program. What fun is there to making plans, acquiring discipline, organizing thoughts, devoting attention to detail, and learning to be self critical.
fun learning successful
I think that it's extraordinarily important that we in computer science keep fun in computing. When it started out, it was an awful lot of fun. Of course, the paying customers got shafted every now and then, and after a while we began to take their complaints seriously. We began to feel as if we really were responsible for the successful, error-free perfect use of these machines. I don't think we are. I think we're responsible for stretching them, setting them off in new directions, and keeping fun in the house. I hope the field of computer science never loses its sense of fun.
weed flower computer
FORTRAN is not a flower but a weed - it is hardy, occasionally blooms, and grows in every computer.
cost knows programmers
LISP programmers know the value of everything and the cost of nothing.
frustration frustrated definitions
In computing, turning the obvious into the useful is a living definition of the word "frustration".
running humorous long
In the long run, every program becomes rococo, and then rubble.
top-down simplicity doe
Optimization hinders evolution. Everything should be built top-down, except the first time. Simplicity does not precede complexity, but follows it.
errors programming reborn
In programming, as in everything else, to be in error is to be reborn.
mean computing
In computing, the mean time to failure keeps getting shorter.
mean machines fit
Adapting old programs to fit new machines usually means adapting new machines to behave like old ones.