"Overemphasis of efficiency leads to an unfortunate circularity in design: for reasons of efficiency early programming languages reflected the characteristics of the early computers, and each generation of computers reflects the needs of the programming languages of the preceding generation."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Academics from CanadaTuring Award laureatesDesigners from CanadaComputer scientists from CanadaScientists from Alberta
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
§5.4
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kenneth_E._Iverson
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Kenneth E. Iverson
Kenneth Eugene Iverson (17 December 1920 – 19 October 2004) was a Canadian computer scientist noted for developing the APL programming language. He received the 1979 Turing Award for his pioneering work in programming languages and mathematical notation, and for his contributions to interactive systems, education, and programming language theory and practice.
13 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Kenneth E. Iverson →
Related Quotes
"The initial motive for developing APL was to provide a tool for writing and teaching. Although APL has been exploited…"
"I was appalled to find that the mathematical notation on which I had been raised failed to fill the needs of the cour…"
"Most programming languages are decidedly inferior to mathematical notation and are little used as tools of thought in…"
"If it is to be effective as a tool of thought, a notation must allow convenient expression not only of notions arisin…"
"The utility of a language as a tool of thought increases with the range of topics it can treat, but decreases with th…"
"The properties of executability and universality associated with programming languages can be combined, in a single l…"
"It is important to distinguish the difficulty of describing and learning a piece of notation from the difficulty of m…"
"The practice of first developing a clear and precise definition of a process without regard for efficiency, and then …"
"Although mathematical notation undoubtedly possesses parsing rules, they are rather loose, sometimes contradictory, a…"
"The precision provided (or enforced) by programming languages and their execution can identify lacunas, ambiguities, …"