It has been said that the great scientific disciplines are examples of giants standing on the shoulders of other giants. It has also been said that the software industry is an example of midgets standing on the toes of other midgets. — Alan Cooper

A good API is not just easy to use but also hard to misuse. — JBD #api

Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the universe trying to build bigger and better idiots. So far, the universe is winning. — Rick Cook #users

Write shy code modules that don't reveal anything unnecessary to other modules and that don't rely on other modules' implementations. — Andy Hunt, Dave Thomas #oop

As a rule, software systems do not work well until they have been used, and have failed repeatedly, in real applications. — Dave Parnas

DRY Don't Repeat Yourself Every piece of knowledge must have a single, unambiguous, authoritative representation within a system. — Dave Thomas, Andy Hunt #dry #refactoring

There are only two hard things in Computer Science: cache invalidation and naming things — Phil Karlton #computer science

Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. — Edsger W. Dijkstra

The function of good software is to make the complex appear to be simple. — Grady Booch #complexity

One of the best programming skills you can have is knowing when to walk away for awhile. — Oscar Godson #programming

If you give someone a program, you will frustrate them for a day; if you teach them how to program, you will frustrate them for a lifetime. — anonymous #programmers

Complexity has nothing to do with intelligence, simplicity does. — Larry Bossidy

PHP is a minor evil perpetrated and created by incompetent amateurs, whereas Perl is a great and insidious evil perpetrated by skilled but perverted professionals.

But in our enthusiasm, we could not resist a radical overhaul of the system, in which all of its major weaknesses have been exposed, analyzed, and replaced with new weaknesses. — Bruce Leverett

Parkinson's Law Otherwise known as the law of bureaucracy, this law states that — Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion."

Sure I could program in PHP, but I could also use a sundial to tell time. — anonymous #php

The only way to learn a new programming language is by writing programs in it. — Dennis M. Ritchie #languages

The question of whether Machines Can Think... is about as relevant as the question of whether Submarines Can Swim. — E. W. Dijkstra #computer science

An evolving system increases its complexity unless work is done to reduce it. — Meir Lehman #complexity

No one in the brief history of computing has ever written a piece of perfect software. It's unlikely that you'll be the first. — Andy Hunt #bugs #softwares