> A language that doesn't affect the way you think about programming, is not worth knowing.
This one stood out to me. I'd say it's a favorite.
These others are interesting in the age of LLMs:
> 93. When someone says "I want a programming language in which I need only say what I wish done," give him a lollipop.
> 114. Within a computer natural language is unnatural.
> 115. Most people find the concept of programming obvious, but the doing impossible.
> 27. Once you understand how to write a program get someone else to write it.
> 113. The only constructive theory connecting neuroscience and psychology will arise from the study of software.
This one remains worth thinking about in terms of the consequences and costs of automation and computerization, LLM-powered or not:
> 99. In man-machine symbiosis, it is man who must adjust: The machines can't.
> 99. In man-machine symbiosis, it is man who must adjust: The machines can't.
It seems worth noting here that the English verb "to adjust" is ambitransitive.
Why?
It either means man must adjust (themselves), or must adjust (the machine).
So it's a somewhat arch joke than may not be apparent due to shifts in language usage. (Also, "man" in this context was short for "human" without regard to sex (which we now call gender)).
The parent alludes to the fact that the sentence could conceivably be read as "In man-machine symbiosis, it is man who must adjust [the machine]", i.e. reading "adjust" as transitive rather than as intransitive.
However, I think it's clear that the intended meaning is intransitive.
Also: 102. One can't proceed from the informal to the formal by formal means.
> A language that doesn't affect the way you think about programming, is not worth knowing.
Yep I have it in https://fabien.benetou.fr/Languages/Languages#MakingYourOwn and few other places in my notes.
I keep it in mind especially when I discuss about programming with non programmers, arguing that the point isn't to bend a machine to your will but rather to become a better thinker. Getting machines to do what you need is "just" an extremely powerful side effect. This is also inspired by Papert and others.
> 36. The use of a program to prove the 4 color theorem will not change mathematics -- it merely demonstrates the theorem, a challenge for a century, is probably not important to mathematicians.
For the sake of completeness, the Four Colour Theorem was proved with the aid of a computer in 1976, although there were, er, quibbles with the original published result not finally put to bed until 1989. It was the first major theorem to be proved with computer assistance (Appel and Haken broke the theorem down to ~1400 configurations that were all computer verified).
Also 100, which speaks to the infinite demand of software - We will never run out of things to program as long as there is a single program around.