Brian Kernighan Quotes

There are two methods in software design. One is to make the program so simple, there are obviously no errors. The other is to make it so complicated, there are no obvious errors.

The art of programming is the art of organizing complexity.

Anyone can squash a bug but all professors of this world couldn't build one.

At Microsoft, the magic of software is used to take on very interesting challenges.

If you know how to make software, then you can create big things.

I majored in Computer Science at U.C. Berkeley and worked as a software developer for a couple of years. Then I taught high school computer science for over a decade and a half in Oakland, California.

I'm a great coder. But I am not pushing that so much anymore because there are thousands of great coders.

Code writers, they are my idols.

A lot of people assume that creating software is purely a solitary activity where you sit in an office with the door closed all day and write lots of code.

I was a programmer.

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

I don't like programming. It's tedious.

I think everyone should learn how to code.

I had a running compiler and nobody would touch it. They told me computers could only do arithmetic.

The process of preparing programs for a digital computer is especially attractive, not only because it can economically and scientifically rewarding, but also because it can be an aesthetic experience much like composing poetry or music.

Learning to program has no more to do with designing interactive software than learning to touch type has to do with writing poetry

Programming is not a science. Programming is a craft.

The hardest part of the software task is arriving at a complete and consistent specification, and much of the essence of building a program is in fact the debugging of the specification.

If you've never programmed a computer, you should. There's nothing like it in the whole world. When you program a computer, it does exactly what you tell it to do. It's like designing a machine — any machine, like a car, like a faucet, like a gas-hinge for a door — using math and instructions. It's awesome in the truest sense: it can fill you with awe.

To me programming is more than an important practical art. It is also a gigantic undertaking in the foundations of knowledge.

Java is C++ without the guns, clubs and knives.

Organizational progress parallels that in science and technology, permitting ultimate simplicity through intermediate complexity.

APL is a mistake, carried through to perfection.

Not only is UNIX dead, it's starting to smell really bad.

Building Oracle is like doing math puzzles as a kid.