Adjusting to the requirement for perfection is, I think, the most difficult part of learning to program.

A design style is defined by a set of microdecisions. A clear style reflects a consistent set. A clear style may not be a good style; a muddled one never is.

Originality is no excuse for ignorance.

The fundamental problem with program maintenance is that fixing a defect has a substantial (20-50 percent) chance of introducing another. So the whole process is two steps forward and one step back.

The bearing of a child takes nine months, no matter how many women are assigned.

The management question, therefore, is not whether to build a pilot system and throw it away. You will do that. Hence plan to throw one away; you will, anyhow.

Men and months are interchangeable commodities only when a task can be partitioned among many workers with no communication among them.