Most software today is very much like an Egyptian pyramid with millions of bricks piled on top of each other, with no structural integrity, but just done by brute force and thousands of slaves.
If McDonalds were run like a software company, one out of every hundred Big Macs would give you food poisoning — and the response would be, “We’re sorry, here’s a coupon for two more.
Software and cathedrals are much the same — first we build them, then we pray.
No one in the brief history of computing has ever written a piece of perfect software. It's unlikely that you'll be the first.
The most important property of a program is whether it accomplishes the intention of its user.
So-called “smart” software usually is the worst you can imagine.
A Fallacy of Software: If it works, and we don't change anything, it will keep working.
Software being “Done” is like lawn being “Mowed”.
Good software, like wine, takes time.
The secret to building large apps is never build large apps. Break your applications into small pieces. Then, assemble those testable, bite-sized pieces into your big application.
Programs, like people, get old. We can’t prevent ageing, but we can understand its causes, limit its effects and reverse some of the damage.
Hardware eventually fails. Software eventually works.
We build systems like the Wright brothers built airplanes — build the whole thing, push it off the cliff, let it crash, and start over again.
