---
title: "The most important thing in the programming language is the name. A l… — Donald Knuth Quote #17 | QuotesBy.net"
description: "The most important thing in the programming language is the name. A language will not succeed without a good name. I have recently invented a very go… — a quote by Donald Knuth."
image: "https://quotesby.net/wp-content/themes/quotesby-editorial/assets/og-default.png"
---

> # The most important thing in the programming language is the name. A language will not succeed without a good name. I have recently invented a very good name and now I am looking for a suitable language.

[Donald Knuth](https://quotesby.net/Donald-Knuth)\#17

[Design](https://quotesby.net/Donald-Knuth/design/)[Programming](https://quotesby.net/Donald-Knuth/programming/)[Communication](https://quotesby.net/topics/communication/)[Naming](https://quotesby.net/topics/naming/)[Success](https://quotesby.net/topics/success/)

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## About this quote

What does it mean?A good name is crucial for a programming language to succeed.In plain termsNames matter a lot for languages to be popular.What can you take from it?Choose names carefully for your projects.

### Where it applies

- software naming
- branding
- communication

### Putting it to work

- pick memorable names
- test names
- align name with purpose

### Questions to consider

- How do you name things?
- Does name affect use?

### Another view

A bad name can be fixed later.

## More from Donald Knuth

1. > The hardest thing is to go to sleep at night, when there are so many urgent things needing to be done. A huge gap exists between what we know is possible with …

[Permalink to quote \#16](https://quotesby.net/Donald-Knuth/16/ "Permalink to quote 16")
2. > In fact what I would like to see is thousands of computer scientists let loose to do whatever they want. That's what really advances the field.

[Permalink to quote \#15](https://quotesby.net/Donald-Knuth/15/ "Permalink to quote 15")
3. > A list is only as strong as its weakest link.

[Permalink to quote \#14](https://quotesby.net/Donald-Knuth/14/ "Permalink to quote 14")

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1. > Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.

[Neil Armstrong](https://quotesby.net/Neil-Armstrong)[Neil Armstrong quote \#2](https://quotesby.net/Neil-Armstrong/2/ "Permalink to quote 2")
2. > The psychological profiling \[of a programmer\] is mostly the ability to shift levels of abstraction, from low level to high level. To see something in the small…

[Donald Knuth](https://quotesby.net/Donald-Knuth)[Donald Knuth quote \#4](https://quotesby.net/Donald-Knuth/4/ "Permalink to quote 4")
3. > In every place, where there is any thing worthy of observation, there should be a short printed directory for strangers.

[James Boswell](https://quotesby.net/James-Boswell)[James Boswell quote \#5](https://quotesby.net/James-Boswell/5/ "Permalink to quote 5")

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