Bjarne Stroustrup famous quotes

C makes it easy to shoot yourself in the foot; C++ makes it harder, but when you do, it blows away your whole leg.
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Witty #Humorous #Blow

C++ is designed to allow you to express ideas, but if you don't have ideas or don't have any clue about how to express them, C++ doesn't offer much help.
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Ideas #Helping #Clue

When done well, software is invisible.
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Done #Invisible #Software

An organization that treats its programmers as morons will soon have programmers that are willing and able to act like morons only.
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Organization #Able #Treats

There's an old story about the person who wished his computer were as easy to use as his telephone. That wish has come true, since I no longer know how to use my telephone.
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Wish #Stories #Use

With the increasing importance of standards for system-level objects such as COM and CORBA, it is particularly important that the C++ bindings to those be clean, well documented, and simple to use.
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Simple #Important #Levels

First, I'd like to see the basic tools such as compilers, debuggers, profilers, database interfaces, GUI builders, CAD tools, and so forth fully support the ISO standard
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Support #Databases #Tools

This evolution may compromise Java's claim of being simpler than C++, but my guess is that the effort will make Java a better language than it is today.
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Effort #Java #May

Design and programming are human activities; forget that and all is lost.
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Design #Forget #Lost

Clearly, I reject the view that there is one way that is right for everyone and for every problem
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Views #Way #Problem

People who passionately want to believe that the world is basically simple react to this with a fury that goes beyond what I consider appropriate for discussing a programming language.
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Believe #Simple #People

The standard library saves programmers from having to reinvent the wheel.
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Library #Wheels #Librarian

It's easy to win forgiveness for being wrong; being right is what gets you into real trouble.
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Real #Winning #Trouble

It is my firm belief that all successful languages are grown and not merely designed from first principles
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Learning #Successful #Firsts

After all, C++ isn't a perfect match for Java's design aims either
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Perfect #Design #Java

More good code has been written in languages denounced as "bad'' than in languages proclaimed "wonderful'' - much more.
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Language #Wonderful #Code

Defining OO as based on the use of class hierarchies and virtual functions is also practical in that it provides some guidance as to where OO is likely to be successful
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Successful #Class #Defining

Nobody should call themselves a professional if they only knew one language.
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Language #Should

C++ is my favorite garbage collected language because it generates so little garbage
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Littles #Garbage #Language

If you think it's simple, then you have misunderstood the problem.
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Simple #Thinking #Misunderstood

A program that has not been tested does not work.
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Doe #Program

Anybody who comes to you and says he has a perfect language is either naive or a salesman.
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Perfect #Language #Salesman

Tom [Cargil]s suggestion with a further idea: Propsers of new [C++] features should be required to donate a kidney. That would - Jim [Waldo] pointed out - make people think hard before proposing, and even people without any sense would propose at most two extensions.
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Thinking #Two #Ideas

Any verbose and tedious solution is error-prone because programmers get bored.
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Errors #Bored #Solutions

Certainly not every good program is object-oriented, and not every object-oriented program is good
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Program #Very Good

The most important single aspect of software development is to be clear about what you are trying to build.
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Simplicity #Important #Trying

However, when Java is promoted as the sole programming language, its flaws and limitations become serious.
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Java #Serious #Language

I would encourage nonproprietary standards for tools and libraries
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Library #Tools #Standards

I find languages that support just one programming paradigm constraining
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Support #Language #Programming

It is easy to study the rules of overloading and of templates without noticing that together they are one of the keys to elegant and efficient type-safe containers
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Keys #Together #Safe

Java isn't platform independent; it is a platform
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Independent #Java #Platforms

Some software is actually pretty good, by any standard. Think of the Mars Rovers, Google, and the Human Genome Project. Now, that's quality software!
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Thinking #Google #Quality

The most fundamental problem in software development is complexity. There is only one basic way of dealing with complexity: divide and conquer
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Way #Fundamentals #Development

The connection between the language in which we think/program and the problems and solutions we can imagine is very close. For this reason restricting language features with the intent of eliminating programmer errors is at best dangerous.
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Thinking #Errors #Connections

I do not think that safety should be bought at the cost of complicating the expression of good solutions to real-life problems.
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Real #Thinking #Expression

[Corporate programming] is often done to the point where the individual is completely submerged in corporate "culture" with no outlet for unique talents and skills. Corporate practices can be directly hostile to individuals with exceptional skills and initiative in technical matters. I consider such management of technical people cruel and wasteful.
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Unique #Practice #Skills

Legacy code" often differs from its suggested alternative by actually working and scaling.
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Legacy #Alternatives #Code

There are more useful systems developed in languages deemed awful than in languages praised for being beautiful--many more.
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Beautiful #Being Beautiful #Awful

How to test?" is a question that cannot be answered in general. "When to test?" however, does have a general answer: as early and as often as possible.
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Tests #Doe #Answers

Proof by analogy is fraud.
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Analogies #Proof #Fraud

I like doing research that has an impact. If I went to a company to make what they call 'real money,' I'd be just trying to make a system work as fast as possible to meet the product and serice deadlines.
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Real #Impact #Trying

Our civilization depends critically on software, and we have a dangerously low degree of professionalism in the computer fields
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Civilization #Degrees #Fields

Personally, I look forward to better tools for analyzing C++ source code.
-- Bjarne Stroustrup

#Looks #Analyzing #Tools