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Quotes from Program Development by Stepwise Refinement — Niklaus Wirth

1934–2024 Switzerland

← All quotes by Niklaus Wirth

7 quotes

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)

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)

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.