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>> You have to completely comprehend your idea in order to fully realize it. This is a gem.

• emmanueloga_ 5y ago
  Corollary: you will fully comprehend your idea once you have fully realized it :-). My point is that iterative implementation often helps to better understand the problem, I think.
• vidarh 5y ago
  Indeed. Wirth's insistence on only adding those things to his language he fully understood was one of the things that inspired me to start writing a Ruby compiler (long dormant in an "almost self-compiling but wildly incomplete" state; I tinker with it every now and again but haven't had time since May judging by my last notes) - it struck me that fully understanding the true complexity of Ruby as a language required understanding how to implement it efficiently. I love using Ruby, but it's an absolute nightmare of a language to implement (and far worse to compile), and it's if anything driven home an appreciation for Wirth's insistence on simplicity.
• Koshkin 5y ago
  The word “realize” has two meanings, one is “understand” and the other (perhaps less used), “make real” or “implement.” (I would still disagree with the sentiment - better understanding often comes during implementation.)