Top 25 Quotes by Alan Perlis of 57 - Page 3

In English every word can be verbed. Would that it were so in our programming languages.

Language, Programming, Programming Languages

"Epigrams on Programming". ACM SIGPLAN Notices 17 (9), pp. 7-13, pu.inf.uni-tuebingen.de. September 1982.

A picture is worth 10K words - but only those to describe the picture. Hardly any sets of 10K words can be adequately described with pictures.

Swag, Swagger

"Epigrams on Programming". ACM SIGPLAN Notices 17 (9), pp. 7-13, pu.inf.uni-tuebingen.de. September 1982.

Because of its vitality, the computing field is always in desperate need of new cliches: Banality soothes our nerves.

Humorous, Technology, Needs

"Epigrams on Programming". ACM SIGPLAN Notices 17 (9), pp. 7-13, pu.inf.uni-tuebingen.de. September 1982.

We are on the verge: Today our program proved Fermat's next-to-last theorem.

Today, Lasts, Next

One can't proceed from the informal to the formal by formal means.

Mean, Formal

FORTRAN is not a flower but a weed - it is hardy, occasionally blooms, and grows in every computer.

Weed, Flower, Computer

Alan J. Perlis (1975). “Introduction to computer science”

Any noun can be verbed.

Learning, Nouns, Programming

Alan Perlis Quotes - Page 3