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C is a razor-sharp tool, with which one can create an elegant and efficient program or a bloody mess.

— Brian Kernighan The Practice of Programming (1999)

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More quotes by Brian Kernighan

Controlling complexity is the essence of computer programming.

Software Tools (1976)

Everyone knows that debugging is twice as hard as writing a program in the first place. So if you're as clever as you can be when you write it, how will you ever debug it?

The most effective debugging tool is still careful thought, coupled with judiciously placed print statements.

Unix for Beginners (1979)

Mechanical rules are never a substitute for clarity of thought.

Software Tools (1976)

But you wonder whether it [C++] has passed beyond some threshold of complexity that's beyond mortals.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Brian Kernighan (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.