Epigrams on Programming
E91917
Epigrams on Programming is a celebrated collection of witty, aphoristic observations about software development and computer science authored by Alan Perlis.
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
computer science writing
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essay collection → software engineering literature → |
| associatedWith |
Yale University
NERFINISHED
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| author |
Alan Perlis
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|
| circulatedAs |
online text
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printed handouts → |
| creator |
Alan Perlis
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| describedAs |
celebrated collection of witty observations about programming
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|
| genre |
aphorisms
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epigrams → humor → |
| hasPart |
“A good system can’t have a weak command language.”
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“A language that doesn’t affect the way you think about programming is not worth knowing.” → “A programming language is low level when its programs require attention to the irrelevant.” → “A year spent in artificial intelligence is enough to make one believe in God.” → “If a listener nods his head when you’re explaining your program, wake him up.” → “If you cannot grok the overall structure of a program while taking a shower, you are not ready to code it.” → “If you can’t write it down in English, you can’t code it.” → “If you have a procedure with ten parameters, you probably missed some.” → “If you have too many special cases, you are doing it wrong.” → “In computing, turning the obvious into the useful is a living definition of the word ‘frustration’.” → “In software systems it is often the early bird that makes the worm.” → “It is easier to change the specification to fit the program than vice versa.” → “Lisp programmers know the value of everything and the cost of nothing.” → “One man’s constant is another man’s variable.” → “Optimization hinders evolution.” → “Syntactic sugar causes cancer of the semicolon.” → “There are two ways to write error-free programs; only the third one works.” → “There is no problem in computer science that cannot be solved by another level of indirection.” → “When someone says ‘I want a programming language in which I need only say what I wish done,’ give him a lollipop.” → “You can measure a programmer’s perspective by noting his attitude on the continuing vitality of FORTRAN.” → |
| hasStyle |
concise
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didactic → ironic → |
| influenced |
programming folklore
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software engineering culture → |
| language |
English
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|
| mainSubject |
computer science
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programming → software development → |
| notableFor |
memorable one-line observations about software
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witty commentary on programming practice → |
| publicationContext |
computer science community
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|
| targetAudience |
computer scientists
→
programmers → software engineers → |
| timePeriod |
late 20th century
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Referenced by (1)
| Subject (surface form when different) | Predicate |
|---|---|
|
Alan Perlis
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notableWork |