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"Programs are meant to be read by humans and only incidentally for computers to execute." From the preface to the first edition of Structure and Interpretation
by pmg101 2y ago
"Programs are meant to be read by humans and only incidentally for computers to execute."
From the preface to the first edition of Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs by Abelson & Sussman (which predated Code Complete by a decade).
It's a maxim I live by although my employers always seem to insist on the computers executing part for some reason.
- TeMPOraL 2y agoThe computer executing part is the one that's both necessary and sufficient. The human reading part is neither. It's nice, important, and long-term indispensable - exactly the kind of thing economic pressures fight against.
- michaelcampbell 2y agoThe point (or at least as I read it) is that the human readability is more about the language being used. The "necessary and sufficient" part is binary, and we're not doing that by hand any more.