The question of whether computers can think is like the question of whether submarines can swim.

If debugging is the process of removing software bugs, then programming must be the process of putting them in.

The use of COBOL cripples the mind; its teaching should, therefore, be regarded as a criminal offense.

In this respect a program is like a poem: you cannot write a poem without writing it. Yet people talk about programming as if it were a production process and measure "programmer productivity" in terms of "number of lines of code produced". In so doing they book that number on the wrong side of the ledger: we should always refer to "the number of lines of code spent".

The tools we use have a profound and devious influence on our thinking habits, and therefore on our thinking abilities.

Experience does by no means automatically leads to wisdom and understanding.

Teaching COBOL ought to be regarded as a criminal act.