Alan Perlis Quotes

Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes.

We're losing track of the vastness of the potential for computer science. We really have to revive the beautiful intellectual joy of it, as opposed to the business potential.

I thank God for not making me a computer scientist.

I got interested in computers and how they could be enslaved to the megalomaniac impulses of a teenager.

Computer science is one of the worst things that ever happened to either computers or to science.

The word 'code' turns out to be a really important word for my book, 'The Information.' The genetic code is just one example. We talk now about coders, coding. Computer guys are coders. The stuff they write is code.

Even though most people won't be directly involved with programming, everyone is affected by computers, so an educated person should have a good understanding of how computer hardware, software, and networks operate.

Technology is fascinating.

I like to think of it as this new field. Instead of computer science, it's going to be virtual science.

It should be mandatory that you understand computer science.

Algorithm

I don't program or code or anything like that.

Computer science inverts the normal. In normal science, you're given a world, and your job is to find out the rules. In computer science, you give the computer the rules, and it creates the world.

Computer science is not just for smart 'nerds' in hoodies coding in basements. Coding is extremely creative and is an integral part of almost every industry.

I did not grow up around computers, so technology was not a tool used every day in my household. I was drawn to computer science due to the creative nature of programming and the technology focus.

I grew up as a computer scientist, and I've always been fascinated by algorithms.

I'm fascinated by artificial intelligence.

It's going to be interesting to see how society deals with artificial intelligence, but it will definitely be cool.

The computing world is very good at things that we are not. It is very good at memory.

Yeah, computers are going to take over the programming business because they have become so fast recently that they can solve the Halting Problem in five seconds flat.

Technology just means information technology.

The world that our children living in is going to be completely different because of big data.

When people think about computer science, they imagine people with pocket protectors and thick glasses who code all night.

Technology is such a broad kind of term, it really applies to so many things, from the electric light to running cars on oil. All of these different things can be called technology. I have kind of a love-hate relationship with it, as I expect most people do. With the computer, I spend so many hours sitting in front of a computer.

We speak of 'software eating the world,' 'the Internet of Things,' and we massify 'data' by declaring it 'Big.' But these concepts remain for the most part abstract. It's hard for many of us to grasp the impact of digital technology on the 'real world' of things like rocks, homes, cars, and trees. We lack a metaphor that hits home.