Quote #19

LISP programmers know the value of everything and the cost of nothing.

More from Alan Perlis

  1. It is easier to write an incorrect program than understand a correct one.
  2. One man's constant is another man's variable.
  3. It is easier to change the specification to fit the program than vice versa.
  4. Simplicity does not precede complexity, but follows it.
  5. It goes against the grain of modern education to teach students to program. What fun is there to making plans, acquiring discipline, organi…
  6. Some programming languages manage to absorb change, but withstand progress.
  7. Is it possible that software is not like anything else, that it is meant to be discarded: that the whole point is to always see it as a soa…
  8. The best book on programming for the layman is 'Alice in Wonderland'; but that's because it's the best book on anything for the layman.

All Alan Perlis quotes