James Gosling Quotes

The mark of a mature programmer is willingness to throw out code you spent time on when you realize it's pointless.

All programming is maintenance programming, because you are rarely writing original code.

Don't document bad code - rewrite it.

Adding functionality is not just a matter of adding code.

We have a rule that if you check in code, you have to maintain it. So I mostly code on the side. I don't check in code anymore.

It is easier to change the specification to fit the program than vice versa.

Most of the effort in the software business goes into the maintenance of code that already exists.

So Chuck and I looked at that and we hacked on em for a while, and eventually we ripped the stuff out of em and put some of it into what was then called en, which was really ed with some em features.

Don't hurry your code. Make sure it works well and is well designed. Don't worry about timing.

When you write a program, think of it primarily as a work of literature. You're trying to write something that human beings are going to read. Don't think of it primarily as something a computer is going to follow. The more effective you are at making your program readable, the more effective it's going to be: You'll understand it today, you'll understand it next week, and your successors who are going to maintain and modify it will understand it.

It is easier to tear down a code than to put a new one in its place.

No matter what, the way to learn to program is to write code and rewrite it and see it used and rewrite again. Reading other people's code is invaluable as well.

Building technical systems involves a lot of hard work and specialized knowledge: languages and protocols, coding and debugging, testing and refactoring.

You have to develop your whole game to completion.

Specifically, in the software industry, progress is highly sequential: progress is typically made through a large number of small steps, each building on the previous ones.

Realize you won't master data structures until you are working on a real-world problem and discover that a hash is the solution to your performance woes.

Early in my career, I was involved with engineer-led projects, where designers came in late in the game and were expected to put lipstick on an existing code base. This almost never works.

Specifically, my favorite tool in Java is hot code swapping in debug mode, meaning I can edit the code while the game is running and immediately see the results in the running game. This is super great for rapid tweaking.

Personally, I look forward to better tools for analyzing C++ source code.

Software as an asset isn't stable over time; it needs to be maintained.

My favorite language for maintainability is Python. It has simple, clean syntax, object encapsulation, good library support, and optional named parameters.

Program construction consists of a sequence of refinement steps.

In the practical world of computing, it is rather uncommon that a program, once it performs correctly and satisfactorily, remains unchanged forever.

I have the ability to get code done, but I'm impatient, and it's scrappy as a result. Maybe that helped me with 'Minecraft,' as it came quickly. But, well, at some point, I'd like to actually become a good programmer.

In software engineering, we have the term 'technical debt.' When you don't do a job correctly, unaddressed problems become harder and harder to solve.