Computer programming quotes from "The Wizardry Compiled" by Rick Cook You can always tell a really good idea by the enemies it makes. ---programmers' axiom Everything always takes twice as long and costs four times as much as you planned. ---programmers' axiom It's never the technical stuff that gets you in trouble. It's the personalities and the politics. ---programmer's saying Those who can't do, teach. ---article of faith among students And vice-versa ---programmers' addendum Living with a programmer is easy. All you need is the patience of a saint. ---programmers' wives' saying Applications software is a race between software engineers, who strive to produce idiot-proof programs, and the Universe which strives to produce bigger idiots. ---software engineers' saying So far the Universe is winning. ---applications programmers' saying The three most dangerous things in the world are a programmer with a soldering iron, a hardware type with a program patch, and a user with an idea. ---computer saying You can't do just one thing. ---Campbell's Law of everything. Friends come and go, but enemies accumulate. ---Murphy's law #1024 ...and sometimes the real trick is telling the difference. ---Murphy's law #1024a Always secure your files. You never know who's lurking about. ---programmer's saying If you eat a live toad first thing in the morning, nothing worse will happen all day long. ---California saying To you or the toad. ---Niven's restatement of above ...well, most of the time, anyway. ---programmer's caveat You never find out the whole story until after you've signed the contract. ---programmer's saying Putting twice as many programmers on a project that is late will make it twice as late. ---Brooks' law of programming projects Sleep? Isn't that a completely inadequate substitution for caffeine? ---programmers' saying At some point in the project you're going to have to break down and finally define the problem. ---programmers' saying Customer support is an art, not a science. ---marketing saying So are most other forms of torture. ---programmers' response Programming is like pinball. The reward for doing it well is the opportunity to do it again. ---programmers' saying