Guido van Rossum Quotes

My list of basic tools is a partial answer to the question about what has changed: Over the past few years, large numbers of programmers have come to depend on elaborate tools to interface code with systems facilities.

Computer programming has been traditionally seen as something that is beyond most people - it's only for a special group with technical expertise and experience. We have developed 'Scratch' as a new type of programming language, which is much more accessible.

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

The wonderful thing about Apple technology is just how intuitive it is.

The situation is so much better for programmers today - a cheap used PC, a linux CD, and an internet account, and you have all the tools necessary to work your way to any level of programming skill you want to shoot for.

What is so brilliant about the gadgets is their simplicity.

One of my most productive days was throwing away 1,000 lines of code.

This is what people need: an easy-to-deploy, easy-to-use tool.

Writing software is a very intense, very personal thing. You have to have time to work your way through it, to understand it. Then debug it.

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

After releasing Mono 1.0, we started work on a new edition of Mono that will be released later in the year.

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

For many people my software is something that you install and forget. I like to keep it that way.

I took a Logo programming class in fifth grade. Logo is a language specifically designed for the classroom environment. It was basically doodling through words.

In the computer field, the moment of truth is a running program; all else is prophecy.

There are two ways to write error-free programs; only the third one works.

Many people think that open source projects are sort of chaotic and and anarchistic. They think that developers randomly throw code at the code base and see what sticks.

Cosmoe is nearing the stage where I would feel comfortable doing a preliminary release aimed at developers.

A computer shall not waste your time or require you to do more work than is strictly necessary.

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.

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.

The fact of the matter is that the true hits of AOL have always been its easy-to-use services, such as AIM, email, and Buddy Lists.

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.

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.

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