EWD 340th ftg

Edsger Wybe Dijkstra was a computer scientist He received the 1972 Turing Award for fundamental contributions to developing programming languages and was the Schlumberger Centennial Chair of Computer Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin from 1984 until 2000. EWD 340 science Shortly before his death in 2002 he received the ACM PODC Influential Paper Award in distributed computing for his work on self stabilization of program computation This annual award was renamed the Dijkstra Prize the following year in his honor. EWD 340 nonfiction writing His influential 1968 paper A Case against the GO TO Statement later published by Niklaus Wirth with the title Go To Statement Considered Harmful introduced the phrase considered harmful into computing Edsger Wybe Dijkstra was a computer scientist He received the 1972 Turing Award for fundamental contributions to developing programming languages and was the Schlumberger Centennial Chair of Computer Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin from 1984 until 2000. Book EWD 3406e Shortly before his death in 2002 he received the ACM PODC Influential Paper Award in distributed computing for his work on self stabilization of program computation This annual award was renamed the Dijkstra Prize the following year in his honor. EWD 340 Computer science diet His influential 1968 paper A Case against the GO TO Statement later published by Niklaus Wirth with the title Go To Statement Considered Harmful introduced the phrase considered harmful into computing site_link This is the transcript of the ACM Turing Award Lecture delivered by Edsger W Dijkstra in 1972 EWD 340 The Humble Programmergreat perspective from a great mind Edsger W Dijkstra We shall do a much better programming job provided that we approach the task with a full appreciation of its tremendous difficulty provided that we stick to modest and elegant programming languages provided that we respect the intrinsic limitations of the human mind and approach the task as Very Humble Programmers E. EWD 340 science W DijsktraI planned to restart my readings of the EWDs with this humbling article which was also his Turing Award Lecture It deals with how insignificant a programmer is compared to the machines and the underlying concepts that s he is pitted against It elucidates the importance of good design and abstraction in Computer Science the necessity to share your views when you feel something about a field is wrong but the herd mentality tells you otherwise the firm grounding in correctness for the programs that are written. Book EWD 340b Like most EWDs this article has aged exceptionally well even after four decades we need competent programmers who have good taste and can do justice to the powerful hardware that is available to them. EWD 340 science I would even go on to call it a classic timeless Computer Science must read Trivia A few famous quotes from Dijkstra come from this article Read it and enjoy the aha moments Edsger W Dijkstra The lecture summarizes the programming practice from its inception to its future The journey about which Mr Dijsktra writes so eloquently is a fascinating view of how and why some issues such as lack of changes in hardware industry made their way in the programmers realm It was a surprise to read the author advocating the retirement and removal of certain programming languages from existence as most scientists would argue their usage for educational purposes The lecture is immensely humbling and incredibly saturated with wisdom of programming I would highly recommend reading this to anyone who wants to become a better programmer Edsger W Dijkstra Great read Still pretty relevant after 45 years. Book EWD 340b We must not forget that it is not our business to make programs it is our business to design classes of computations that will display a desired behaviour Edsger W Dijkstra Can t recommend enough It starts with some background where hardware is seen as fashionable compared to the software and continues why software will be a bigger problem and must improve Then it describes the necessary conditions for any breakthrough understood benefits economical costs and feasibility. EWD 340th flying First two are briefly explained and the last condition is extended and supported by manageable programs reduced set of features proofs and verification large pattern libraries better tools i. EWD 340 book e programming languages and abstractions factored programming He also shortly touches the road blockers political status unbalanced education etc Finally he concludes accepting our limits and flaws isn t a bug but a feature to design and to develop for the future: Book EWD 340b program I did not understand a few things such as what factored solutions mean I ll figure it out as I become a better Computer Scientist, EWD 340ml You will also find the source of many quotes that are seen frequently here and there and can have your own aha moments Edsger W Dijkstra.