4 ms·

Somehow this gives me the impression he is a bit overrated, and he somehow developed a bit of cult-like following.

lou1306 6y ago
I genuinely wonder what gave you this impression. Dijkstra made seminal contributions to at least three subfields of computer science: algorithms (his optimal shortest path algorithm), programming languages (ALGOL -with others, but still- and his "goto considered harmful" paper), and concurrency theory (semaphores), just to state the most well-known ones...
- luizfzs 6y ago
  I agree. I get the impression that he formalized several problems and provided a solution to them, e.g. the Dining Philosophers Problem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dining_philosophers_problem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dining_philosophers_problem I think he is actually underrated. I'd have liked to be introduced to his proof notations during some formal courses on my CS formation, which was never mentioned.
  - User23 6y ago
    His proof format is amazing. I've used it ever since I discovered it in one of the last EWDs.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
rramadass 6y ago
Not at all true. The Dutch are famously known to be blunt and direct which seems to be a national trait(eg: https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/dutch-culture-brutally-honest-people https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/dutch-culture-brutal...). Think of Dijkstra as Sherlock Holmes thought of himself; viz. My dear Watson,” said he, “I cannot agree with those who rank modesty among the virtues. To the logician all things should be seen exactly as they are, and to underestimate one’s self is as much a departure from truth as to exaggerate one’s own powers.
- socialdemocrat 6y ago
  I Northern European/Germanic trait in general. As a Norwegian living in the Netherlands I found Dutch people very easy to relate to but I know many of my other fellow foreigner had major problems with their direct communication. But you see the same with Linus Thorvalds. His tone offends a lot of people in particular Americans. But as a fellow Nordic I think the passive aggressiveness often observed in America or fake politeness more difficult to deal with. Of course Dijkstra and Linus are quite different personalities but both suffer from an English speaking majority thinking their concepts of proper etiquette is universal.
  - silicon2401 6y ago
    do you know of any media that has good depictions of this kind of culture? Ideally as part of the show, rather than a one-off foreigner in an American show. As an American this is how I sometimes wish our culture was like, but at the same time I realize I can't even imagine the reality of it since our culture can be rather extremely towards the opposite end of the spectrum
    - cambalache 6y ago
      Thing is any local media wont display it "in your face" like an America show would do it, it is just part of the environment. Paraphrasing Borges, "How do you identify an actual desert people literary work? it's the one which does not mention camels" This reminds me one thing I find irritating about SF in general and SF movies in particular. They hardly portrait technology use in an organic way. Do you want to see a great SF movie? Watch a current normal movie with 1990s eyes. People will text, call her friends, use Uber, buy on Amazon but nothing self conscious " See? See how cool is what I am doing!?"
      - silicon2401 6y ago
        That sounds like just what I'd be interested in watching. Any suggestions? That's a good example. I often do the reverse: watching 90s or older movies with modern eyes. It can be incredibly refreshing to watch older movies that have a slower and more relatable vibe.

I genuinely wonder what gave you this impression. Dijkstra made seminal contributions to at least three subfields of computer science: algorithms (his optimal shortest path algorithm), programming languages (ALGOL -with others, but still- and his "goto considered harmful" paper), and concurrency theory (semaphores), just to state the most well-known ones...

luizfzs 6y ago
I agree. I get the impression that he formalized several problems and provided a solution to them, e.g. the Dining Philosophers Problem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dining_philosophers_problem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dining_philosophers_problem I think he is actually underrated. I'd have liked to be introduced to his proof notations during some formal courses on my CS formation, which was never mentioned.
- User23 6y ago
  His proof format is amazing. I've used it ever since I discovered it in one of the last EWDs.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

rramadass 6y ago

Not at all true. The Dutch are famously known to be blunt and direct which seems to be a national trait(eg: https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/dutch-culture-brutally-honest-people https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/dutch-culture-brutal...). Think of Dijkstra as Sherlock Holmes thought of himself; viz. My dear Watson,” said he, “I cannot agree with those who rank modesty among the virtues. To the logician all things should be seen exactly as they are, and to underestimate one’s self is as much a departure from truth as to exaggerate one’s own powers.

socialdemocrat 6y ago
I Northern European/Germanic trait in general. As a Norwegian living in the Netherlands I found Dutch people very easy to relate to but I know many of my other fellow foreigner had major problems with their direct communication. But you see the same with Linus Thorvalds. His tone offends a lot of people in particular Americans. But as a fellow Nordic I think the passive aggressiveness often observed in America or fake politeness more difficult to deal with. Of course Dijkstra and Linus are quite different personalities but both suffer from an English speaking majority thinking their concepts of proper etiquette is universal.
- silicon2401 6y ago
  do you know of any media that has good depictions of this kind of culture? Ideally as part of the show, rather than a one-off foreigner in an American show. As an American this is how I sometimes wish our culture was like, but at the same time I realize I can't even imagine the reality of it since our culture can be rather extremely towards the opposite end of the spectrum
  - cambalache 6y ago
    Thing is any local media wont display it "in your face" like an America show would do it, it is just part of the environment. Paraphrasing Borges, "How do you identify an actual desert people literary work? it's the one which does not mention camels" This reminds me one thing I find irritating about SF in general and SF movies in particular. They hardly portrait technology use in an organic way. Do you want to see a great SF movie? Watch a current normal movie with 1990s eyes. People will text, call her friends, use Uber, buy on Amazon but nothing self conscious " See? See how cool is what I am doing!?"
    - silicon2401 6y ago
      That sounds like just what I'd be interested in watching. Any suggestions? That's a good example. I often do the reverse: watching 90s or older movies with modern eyes. It can be incredibly refreshing to watch older movies that have a slower and more relatable vibe.