Alan Perlis Quotes

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

I started to write a new editor not too long ago and had it about half done after two days.

It always helps to be a good programmer. It is important to like computers and to be able to think of things people would want to do with their computers.

There is people who make stuff with words. There is people who make stuff with programs. And I really believe that that whole creative culture, people didn't realize how creative programming is. And anybody who's done it of course knows that not only is it creative, but it's incredibly absorbing.

I never do any brainwork that anyone else can do for me

Teaching someone to program is like giving them a superpower.

Programming is how we talk to the machines that are increasingly woven into our lives. If you aren't a programmer, you're like one of the unlettered people of the Middle Ages who were told what to think by the literate priesthood. We had a Renaissance when more people could read and write; we'll have another one when everyone programs.

Learning to write programs stretches your mind, and helps you think better, creates a way of thinking about things that I think is helpful in all domains.

The only way to learn a new programming language is by writing programs in it.

Owning a computer without programming is like having a kitchen and using only the microwave oven

Never do anything yourself that others can do for you.

All of my friends who have younger siblings who are going to college or high school - my number one piece of advice is: You should learn how to program.

There are no standards for computer programmers and no group to certify them.

As a kid, I was always into art at the same time as computers, and eventually I realised I was making more interesting stuff with my keyboard than with my hands. I really enjoyed modifying computer games more than playing them, so that got me into programming.

I'm very bad at delegating writing responsibilities, because I've never been able to do it; I've never had any help or looked for any help.

I've been programming computers since elementary school, where they taught us, and I stuck with computer science through high school and college.

I designed and developed an unbelievable number of applications early in my life.

If you don't have a job right now, and you have a computer and a basic intelligence level, I guarantee you can get a great job, paying really well, in less than three months. How? Learn to program.

When I worked at Microsoft, I got to go and visit a bunch of different companies. Probably a hundred different companies a year. You'd see all the different ways they'd work. The guys who did Ventura Publisher one day, and then United Airlines the next. You'd see the 12 guys in Texas doing Doom, and then you'd go see Aetna Life Insurance.

Computer programming is pretty much guaranteed income. I'm good at it, and I like it.

It should be mandatory that you understand computer science.

Coming from a programming background, I have a good sense of what's feasible and what's not feasible in a game.

I worked as a programmer for 16 years.

I didn't do programming language stuff in college at all.

After 14 years of running DonorsChoose.org as someone who had never written a line of code, I did do a three-month night school course. After all these years, I could at least speak some of the same vocabulary and have a first-hand appreciation for what my colleagues on the engineering team are doing.