Us he triat alguns epigrames d'Alan J. Perlis. Posaré alguns en les parets
de l'aula...
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Epigrams on Programming
Alan J. Perlis
3 Syntactic sugar causes cancer of the semi-colons.
4 Every program is a part of some other program and rarely fits.
7 It is easier to write an incorrect program than understand a
correct one.
11 If you have a procedure with 10 parameters, you probably missed
some.
14 In the long run every program becomes rococo - then rubble.
15 Everything should be built top-down, except the first time.
18 A program without a loop and a structured variable isn't worth
writing.
19 A language that doesn't affect the way you think about programming,
is not worth knowing.
20 Wherever there is modularity there is the potential for
misunderstanding: Hiding information implies a need to check communication.
22 A good system can't have a weak command language.
23 To understand a program you must become both the machine and the
program.
27 Once you understand how to write a program get someone else to
write it.
31 Simplicity does not precede complexity, but follows it.
32 Programmers are not to be measured by their ingenuity and their
logic but by the completeness of their case analysis.
33 The 11th commandment was "Thou Shalt Compute" or "Thou Shalt Not
Compute" - I forget which.
38 Structured Programming supports the law of the excluded muddle.
40 There are two ways to write error-free programs; only the third one
works.
44 Sometimes I think the only universal in the computing field is the
fetch-execute-cycle.
45 The goal of computation is the emulation of our synthetic
abilities, not the understanding of our analytic ones.
46 Like punning, programming is a play on words.
47 As Will Rogers would have said, "There is no such thing as a free
variable."
51 Bringing computers into the home won't change either one, but may
revitalize the corner saloon.
56 Software is under a constant tension. Being symbolic it is
arbitrarily perfectible; but also it is arbitrarily changeable.
57 It is easier to change the specification to fit the program than
vice versa.
58 Fools ignore complexity. Pragmatists suffer it. Some can avoid it.
Geniuses remove it.
61 In programming, as in everything else, to be in error is to be
reborn.
62 In computing, invariants are ephemeral.
65 Make no mistake about it: Computers process numbers - not symbols.
We measure our understanding (and control) by the extent to which we can
arithmetize an activity.
71 Documentation is like term insurance: It satisfies because almost
no one who subscribes to it depends on its benefits.
76 It is the user who should parameterize procedures, not their
creators.
80 Prolonged contact with the computer turns mathematicians into
clerks and vice versa.
81 In computing, turning the obvious into the useful is a living
definition of the word "frustration".
93 When someone says "I want a programming language in which I need
only say what I wish done," give him a lollipop.
94 Interfaces keep things tidy, but don't accelerate growth: Functions
do.
95 Don't have good ideas if you aren't willing to be responsible for
them.
96 Computers don't introduce order anywhere as much as they expose
opportunities.
105 You can't communicate complexity, only an awareness of it.
106 It's difficult to extract sense from strings, but they're the only
communication coin we can count on.
108 Whenever two programmers meet to criticize their programs, both are
silent.
109 Think of it! With VLSI we can pack 100 ENIACs in 1 sq.cm.
110 Editing is a rewording activity.
111 Why did the Roman Empire collapse? What is the Latin for office
automation?
115 Most people find the concept of programming obvious, but the doing
impossible.
117 It goes against the grain of modern education to teach children to
program. What fun is there in making plans, acquiring discipline in
organizing thoughts, devoting attention to detail and learning to be
self-critical?
119 Programming is an unnatural act.
120 Adapting old programs to fit new machines usually means adapting
new machines to behave like old ones.
