Niklaus Wirth Quotes


"Many people tend to look at programming styles and languages like religions: if you belong to one, you cannot belong to others. But this analogy is another fallacy."
- Niklaus Wirth
(Related: People, Programming)

"Software development is technical activity conducted by human beings."
- Niklaus Wirth
(Related: Development, Software)

"Yet, I am convinced that there is a need for high quality software, and the time will come when it will be recognized that it is worth investing effort in its development and in using a careful, structured approach based on safe, structured languages."
- Niklaus Wirth
(Related: Time, Quality, Development, Effort, Software, Will, Worth)

"Usually its users discover sooner or later that their program does not deliver all the desired results, or worse, that the results requested were not the ones really needed."
- Niklaus Wirth
(Related: Results)

"The possible solutions to a given problem emerge as the leaves of a tree, each node representing a point of deliberation and decision."
- Niklaus Wirth
(Related: Decision)

"The idea that one might derive satisfaction from his or her successful work, because that work is ingenious, beautiful, or just pleasing, has become ridiculed."
- Niklaus Wirth
(Related: Work, Idea, Successful, Satisfaction)

"Programming is usually taught by examples."
- Niklaus Wirth
(Related: Programming)

"Our ultimate goal is extensible programming (EP). By this, we mean the construction of hierarchies of modules, each module adding new functionality to the system."
- Niklaus Wirth
(Related: Goal, Programming)

"Nevertheless, I consider OOP as an aspect of programming in the large; that is, as an aspect that logically follows programming in the small and requires sound knowledge of procedural programming."
- Niklaus Wirth
(Related: Knowledge, Programming, Sound)

"My being a teacher had a decisive influence on making language and systems as simple as possible so that in my teaching, I could concentrate on the essential issues of programming rather than on details of language and notation."
- Niklaus Wirth
(Related: Being, Influence, Language, Programming, Teaching)

"It is evidently necessary to generate and test candidates for solutions in some systematic manner."
- Niklaus Wirth
"Indeed, the woes of Software Engineering are not due to lack of tools, or proper management, but largely due to lack of sufficient technical competence."
- Niklaus Wirth
(Related: Management, Competence, Engineering, Software, Tools)

"In the practical world of computing, it is rather uncommon that a program, once it performs correctly and satisfactorily, remains unchanged forever."
- Niklaus Wirth
(Related: World)

"I have never designed a language for its own sake."
- Niklaus Wirth
(Related: Language)

"Experience shows that the success of a programming course critically depends on the choice of these examples."
- Niklaus Wirth
(Related: Experience, Success, Choice, Programming)

"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."
- Niklaus Wirth
(Related: Design, Development, Programming)

"But quality of work can be expected only through personal satisfaction, dedication and enjoyment. In our profession, precision and perfection are not a dispensible luxury, but a simple necessity."
- Niklaus Wirth
(Related: Work, Quality, Dedication, Enjoyment, Luxury, Necessity, Perfection, Profession, Satisfaction)

"But active programming consists of the design of new programs, rather than contemplation of old programs."
- Niklaus Wirth
(Related: Design, Contemplation, Old, Programming)

"A good designer must rely on experience, on precise, logic thinking; and on pedantic exactness. No magic will do."
- Niklaus Wirth
(Related: Experience, Logic, Magic, Thinking, Will)

"My duty as a teacher is to train, educate future programmers."
- Niklaus Wirth
(Related: Duty, Future)