“In the development of our understanding of complex phenomena, the most powerful tool available to the human intellect is abstraction.”
Tony Hoare
Structured Programming (Primary source)
This book is a landmark collection of essays authored by Ole-Johan Dahl, Edsger W. Dijkstra, and Tony Hoare. It brings together foundational ideas that reshaped the way software systems were understood, designed, and implemented.
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“In the development of our understanding of complex phenomena, the most powerful tool available to the human intellect is abstraction. Abstraction arises from a recognition of similarities between certain objects, situations, or processes in the real world, and the decision to concentrate on these similarities, and to ignore for the time being the differences.”
Tony Hoare
“What is the central core of the subject [computer science]? What is it that distinguishes it from the separate subjects with which it is related? What is the linking thread which gathers these disparate branches into a single discipline? My answer to these questions is simple—it is the art of programming a computer.”
— Tony Hoare Primary source“There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies.”
— Tony Hoare Primary source“The price of reliability is the pursuit of the utmost simplicity.”
— Tony Hoare Primary source“A crude measure of the simplicity of an engineering tool is the length of the manual required to give a full and complete account of how to use it and avoid misusing it.”
— Tony Hoare Primary source“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“We cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individual. Toward this end, each of us must work toward his own highest development, accepting at the same time his share of responsibility in the general life of humanity—our particular duty being to help those to whom we feel we can be most useful.”
— Marie Curie Secondary source“The secret of great battles consists in knowing how to deploy and concentrate at the right time.”
— Napoleon Bonaparte Disputed“As usual in human affairs, what determines the behavior are incentives for the decision-maker, and getting the incentives right is a very, very important lesson.”
— Charlie Munger Primary source