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Niklaus Wirth Quotes

1934–2024 Switzerland

Niklaus E. Wirth (15 February 1934 – 1 January 2024) was a Swiss computer scientist and winner of the 1984 Turing Award.

Switzerland

Random Niklaus Wirth quote

16 quotes

In our profession, precision and perfection are not a dispensable luxury, but a simple necessity.

Niklaus Wirth (1997)

Reliable and transparent programs are usually not in the interest of the designer.

Niklaus Wirth (1999)

The possible solutions to a given problem emerge as the leaves of a tree, each node representing a point of deliberation and decision.

Software gets slower faster than hardware gets faster.

Experience shows that the success of a programming course critically depends on the choice of these examples.

Program Development by Stepwise Refinement (1971)

In the practical world of computing, it is rather uncommon that a program, once it performs correctly and satisfactorily, remains unchanged forever.

Program Development by Stepwise Refinement (1971)

But active programming consists of the design of new programs, rather than contemplation of old programs.

Program Development by Stepwise Refinement (1971)

During the process of stepwise refinement, a notation which is natural to the problem in hand should be used as long as possible.

Program Development by Stepwise Refinement (1971)

Programming is usually taught by examples.

Program Development by Stepwise Refinement (1971)

Go To statement considered harmful.

Clearly, programming courses should teach methods of design and construction, and the selected examples should be such that a gradual development can be nicely demonstrated.

Program Development by Stepwise Refinement (1971)

... we do not consider it as good engineering practice to consume a resource lavishly just because it happens to be cheap.

Niklaus Wirth (2013)

Variation: Software is decelerating faster than hardware is accelerating.

My being a teacher had a decisive influence on making language and systems as simple as possible so that in my teaching, I could concentrate on the essential issues of programming rather than on details of language and notation.

Algorithms + Data Structures = Programs

As a matter of fact, the adaptability of a program to changes in its objectives (often called maintainability) and to changes in its environment (nowadays called portability) can be measured primarily in terms of the degree to which it is neatly structured.

Program Development by Stepwise Refinement (1971)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Niklaus Wirth (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.