Gerald M. Weinberg Quotes

1933 – 2018

Gerald M. Weinberg (October 27, 1933 – August 7, 2018) was an American computer scientist, author and teacher of the psychology and anthropology of computer software development.

From: Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has Its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be In awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity. - Albert Einstein (From “Death of a Genius,” by William Miller, LIFE Magazine, May 2, 1955 © 1955 Time Inc.)

I’m reminded of the story of the village idiot whose antique watch stopped running. He pried it open and found a dead cockroach inside. “No wonder it doesn’t work,” he said, “the manager is dead.

The social science that provides us with the most useful overall model for computer programming is anthropology. With a little artistic license and stretching of the imagination, we could imagine computer programmers as having a culture — a shared set of beliefs and activities which shape their day-to-day activities.

When we do read code, we find that some of it gets written because of machine limitations, some because of language limitations, some because of programmer limitations, some because of historical accidents, and some because of specifications — both essential and inessential.