---
title: "Everyone knows that debugging is twice as hard as writing a program i… — Brian Kernighan Quote #2 | QuotesBy.net"
description: "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 w… — a quote by Brian Kernighan."
image: "https://quotesby.net/wp-content/themes/quotesby-editorial/assets/og-default.png"
---

> # 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?

[Brian Kernighan](https://quotesby.net/Brian-Kernighan)\#2[WhatsApp (opens in a new tab)](https://wa.me/?text=%E2%80%9CEveryone%20knows%20that%20debugging%20is%20twice%20as%20hard%20as%20writing%20a%20program%20in%20the%20first%20place.%20So%20if%20you%27re%20as%20clever%20as%20you%20can%20be%20when%20you%20write%20it%2C%20how%20will%20you%20ever%20debug%20it%3F%E2%80%9D%20%E2%80%94%20Brian%20Kernighan%20https%3A%2F%2Fquotesby.net%2FBrian-Kernighan%2F2%2F)[X (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=%E2%80%9CEveryone%20knows%20that%20debugging%20is%20twice%20as%20hard%20as%20writing%20a%20program%20in%20the%20first%20place.%20So%20if%20you%27re%20as%20clever%20as%20you%20can%20be%20when%20you%20write%20it%2C%20how%20will%20you%20ever%20debug%20it%3F%E2%80%9D%20%E2%80%94%20Brian%20Kernighan&url=https%3A%2F%2Fquotesby.net%2FBrian-Kernighan%2F2%2F)[Facebook (opens in a new tab)](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fquotesby.net%2FBrian-Kernighan%2F2%2F)

## More from Brian Kernighan

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

[Permalink to quote \#1](https://quotesby.net/Brian-Kernighan/1/ "Permalink to quote 1")
2. > Do what you think is interesting, do something that you think is fun and worthwhile, because otherwise you won't do it well anyway.

[Permalink to quote \#3](https://quotesby.net/Brian-Kernighan/3/ "Permalink to quote 3")
3. > Controlling complexity is the essence of computer programming.

[Permalink to quote \#4](https://quotesby.net/Brian-Kernighan/4/ "Permalink to quote 4")

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