"Being an expert is like driving a Jeep; you still get stuck in the mud, but you're further away from help."

Damien Katz: Error codes or Exceptions? Why is Reliable Software so Hard?

Damien Katz: Error codes or Exceptions? Why is Reliable Software so Hard?: "Sometimes you don't want things that work like the real world, sometimes you want things that work like computers."

Lill kasvab seemnest, seemnes olev geneetiline info kujundab tulemust.

Mis on tarkvara seeme?

In "The Lives of a Cell," Lewis Thomas wrote about termites building arches:

Termites are even more extraordinary in the way they seem to accumulate intelligence as they gather together. Two or three termites in a chamber will begin to pick up pellets and move them from place to place, but nothing comes of it; nothing is built. As more join in, they seem to reach a critical mass, a quorum, and the thinking begins. They place pellets atop pellets, then throw up columns and beautiful, curving, symmetrical arches, and the crystalline architecture of vaulted chambers is created. It is not known how they communicate with each other, how the chains of termites building one column know when to turn toward the crew of the adjacent column, or how, when the time comes, they manage the flawless joining of the arches. The stimuli that set them off at the outset, building collectively instead of shifting things about, may be pheromones released when they reach committee size. They react as if alarmed. They become agitated, excited, and then they begin working like artists.

"The Lives of a Cell," Lewis Thomas, (New York: Viking. 99 1974), p. 13.

The ITS system is not the result of a human wave or crash effort. The system has been incrementally developed almost continuously since its inception. It is indeed true that large systems are never "finished".... In general, the ITS system can be said to have been designer implemented and user designed. The problem of unrealistic software design is greatly diminished when the designer is the implementor. The implementors’ ease in programming and pride in the result is increased when he, in an essential sense, is the designer. Features are less likely to turn out to be of low utility if users are their designers and they are less likely to be difficult to use if their designers are their users.

–Donald Eastlake, 1972, quoted in "Hackers," page 127

Most software wakes up each day with a fresh case of amnesia.http://worrydream.com/MagicInk/#p152

Unlike the words in a paragraph, the elements in a graphic can be deliberately placed to encourage spatial reasoning.
http://worrydream.com/MagicInk/#p120

QuotesPage - The Haskell Wiki

QuotesPage - The Haskell Wiki: "It takes n recursions to screw in a light bulb -- one to turn the light bulb once, and n-1 to screw it in"

Coding Horror: Because They All Suck

Coding Horror: Because They All Suck: "If you truly believe you need to pick a mobile phone that 'says something' about your personality, don't bother. You don't have a personality."

Software Engineering Proverbs

Software Engineering Proverbs: "No matter what the problem is,
it's always a people problem. "