The word “essay” comes from the French verb “essayer”, which means “to try”. An essay, in the original sense, is something you write to try to figure something out. This happens in software too. I think some of the best programs were essays, in the sense that the authors didn’t know when they started exactly what they were trying to write.
Paul Graham
Category: Quotes
Argue with idiots, and you become an idiot
Argue with idiots, and you become an idiot
Paul Graham
If debugging is the process of removing software bugs, then programming must be the process of putting them in
Edsger Dijkstra
We will open that fridge when we get to it
MeIr
All human systems are collections of human mistakes
MeIr
Crying in the beer
I’ve sat through far too many “crying in the beer” sessions where all the energy for change was dissipated in the intensity of the complaining. Once you see an idea for improvement that makes sense to you, do it.
Kent Beck, Extreme Programming Explained: Embrace Change
Trust energizes participants
Trust energizes participants. We feel good when things work smoothly. We need to be safe to experiment and make mistakes. We need testing to bring accountability to our experimentation so that we can be sure we are doing no harm.
Kent Beck, Extreme Programming Explained: Embrace Change
Simplify everything
This much seems clear: either you can adapt sophisticated, complex systems to try to manage the complications, or you can simplify everything.
Ricardo Semler
Bureaucracies
Bureaucracies are built by and for people who busy themselves proving they are necessary, especially when they suspect they aren’t
Ricardo Semler
With few exceptions
With few exceptions, rules and regulations only serve to:
1. Divert attention from a company’s objectives.
2. Provide a false sense of security for executives.
3. Create work for bean counters.
4. Teach men to stone dinosaurs and start fires with sticks.
Ricardo Semler