Every program has (at least) two purposes: the one for which it was written and another for which it wasn't.
Alan PerlisRead
Programmers are not to be measured by their ingenuity and their logic but by the completeness of their case analysis.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The true measure of a programmer lies in their ability to analyze and address cases, rather than just their creativity and logical skills.
Alan Perlis emphasizes that a good programmer is evaluated not solely based on their inventive ideas and logical reasoning abilities, but rather on how comprehensively they analyze problems and cases. This suggests that thorough case analysis is critical in software development, as it ensures all aspects of a problem are considered, leading to more effective and robust solutions.
Themes
ProgrammingAnalysisSoftwareProblem-SolvingEvaluation
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a programming workshop to emphasize the importance of thorough analysis in coding.
More from Alan Perlis
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Every reader should ask himself periodically “Toward what end, toward what end?”—but do not ask it too often lest you pass up the fun of programming for the constipation of bittersweet philosophy.
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