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Kay : Dijkstra :: Ruby : Haskell Dijkstra was correct in saying that you don't even need a computer to do "Computer Science," all you need is a pencil, paper,
by lectrick 11y ago
Kay : Dijkstra :: Ruby : Haskell
Dijkstra was correct in saying that you don't even need a computer to do "Computer Science," all you need is a pencil, paper, and a mental model of what you're trying to do given computer constraints.
Dijkstra more theoretical; Kay more hands-on.
I think BOTH are necessary, or at least important.
- tincholio 11y agoI think that's a pretty good analogy, though maybe you should s/ruby/objective-c/ to bring it closer to smalltalk :)
- innguest 11y agoThere is theoretical, and then there is theoretical: one is privately fueled and produces real-world industry-strong gems like Haskell; the other is publicly fueled and produces concepts such as self-stabilization and superstabilization. If Dijkstra is so awesome someone should write a Wikipedia article with more important achievements and less medals.
- tincholio 11y agoI don't really understand what you mean by privately or publicly-fueled theory, but anyway... Instead of waiting for someone to write on the wiki, you could go out there and google a bit. Very briefly: he made major contributions to compiler and OS design (including the first Algol compiler and a whole OS, the THE OS), devised two fundamental graph algorithms (shortest path and spanning tree), and spearheaded making programming into a serious discipline rooted in maths (along the way pretty much giving birth to structured programming). He also wrote (longhand!) over a thousand essays on CS and related topics, which are (as far as I've read, and I've read quite a few) all a joy to read. You can start here: http://amturing.acm.org/award_winners/dijkstra_1053701.cfm http://amturing.acm.org/award_winners/dijkstra_1053701.cfm and here: http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/ http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/