Alan Jay Perlis (April 1, 1922 – February 7, 1990) was an American computer scientist known for his pioneering work in programming languages and the first recipient of the Turing Award. Read full biography of Alan Perlis →
A programming language is low level when its programs require attention to the irrelevant.
I think it is inevitable that people program poorly. Training will not substantially help matters. We have to learn to live with it.
If you have a procedure with 10 parameters, you probably missed some.
The computing field is always in need of new cliches.
A picture is worth 10K words - but only those to describe the picture. Hardly any sets of 10K words can be adequately described with pictures.
In English every word can be verbed. Would that it were so in our programming languages.
It is easier to write an incorrect program than understand a correct one.
Some programming languages manage to absorb change, but withstand progress.
If your computer speaks English, it was probably made in Japan.
The best book on programming for the layman is 'Alice in Wonderland'; but that's because it's the best book on anything for the... →
If a listener nods his head when you're explaining your program, wake him up.
It is easier to change the specification to fit the program than vice versa.
Don't have good ideas if you aren't willing to be responsible for them.
Alan Jay Perlis (April 1, 1922 – February 7, 1990) was an American computer scientist known for his pioneering work in programming languages and the first recipient of the Turing Award.