Edsger W. Dijkstra
Dutch computer scientist (1930 to 2002); received the Turing Award in 1972; held the Schlumberger Centennial Chair in computer science at the University of Texas at Austin from 1984 to 1999; wrote a numbered series of manuscripts known as the EWDs.
Edsger W. Dijkstra did not write this page. ppll compiled it from their own words, each linked to the source. Is this you? · Report a mistake
What they believe
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In computing, elegance is not a luxury: it decides between success and failure.
in computing, elegance is not a dispensable luxury but a quality that decides between success and failure
cs.utexas.eduSaid 1 Mar 1999This on korrents
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Simplicity takes hard work to achieve and education to appreciate, and complexity sells better.
Simplicity is a great virtue but it requires hard work to achieve it and education to appreciate it. And to make matters worse: complexity sells better.
cs.utexas.eduSaid 10 Aug 1984This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These 2: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 4 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
Recent
In computing, elegance is not a luxury: it decides between success and failure.
in computing, elegance is not a dispensable luxury but a quality that decides between success and failure
Computing Science: Achievements and Challenges (EWD1284) Said 1 Mar 1999
A design has to be kept simple for reliability and intellectual control, but nobody yet knows how to reach simplicity systematically.
we know that for the sake of reliability and intellectual control we have to keep the design simple and disentangled, and in individual cases we have been remarkably successful, but we do not know how to reach simplicity in a systematic manner.
Computing Science: Achievements and Challenges (EWD1284) Said 1 Mar 1999
Simplicity takes hard work to achieve and education to appreciate, and complexity sells better.
Simplicity is a great virtue but it requires hard work to achieve it and education to appreciate it. And to make matters worse: complexity sells better.
On the nature of Computing Science (EWD896) Said 10 Aug 1984
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Introducing a complicated concept earns credit; showing that an established complicated concept is better avoided rarely does.
One can get credit for some complicated concepts one has introduced, it is hard to get credit for the discovery how some established but complicated concepts had better be avoided
On the nature of Computing Science (EWD896) Said 10 Aug 1984
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