Every program has (at least) two purposes: the one for which it was written and another for which it wasn't.
Alan PerlisRead
I think it is inevitable that people program poorly. Training will not substantially help matters. We have to learn to live with it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Programming errors are a natural part of software development, and training alone cannot eliminate them.
Alan Perlis highlights the inherent imperfections within the field of programming, suggesting that it is unrealistic to expect errors to be eradicated through training alone. Instead, he advocates for acceptance of these shortcomings as an inevitable aspect of technology, emphasizing that the focus should be on adaptation and improvement rather than seeking perfection.
Themes
ProgrammingErrorsAcceptanceTrainingImprovement
In practice
Example use cases
In a tech conference, one might say, 'As Alan Perlis noted, programming errors are inevitable, and we must learn to navigate them effectively.'
More from Alan Perlis
All quotes βBecause of its vitality, the computing field is always in desperate need of new cliches: Banality soothes our nerves.
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In computing, turning the obvious into the useful is a living definition of the word "frustration".
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It is better to have 100 functions operate on one data structure than to have 10 functions operate on 10 data structures.
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A good programming language is a conceptual universe for thinking about programming.
Alan PerlisRead
Every reader should ask himself periodically βToward what end, toward what end?ββbut do not ask it too often lest you pass up the fun of programming for the constipation of bittersweet philosophy.
Alan PerlisRead
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