There is no single development, in either technology or management technique, which by itself promises even one order-of-magnitude improvement within a decade in productivity, in reliability, in simplicity.

How does a project get to be a year behind schedule? One day at a time.

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

...when fits of creativity run strong, more than one programmer or writer has been known to abandon the desktop for the more spacious floor.

More software projects have gone awry for lack of calendar time than for all other causes combined.

I am more convinced than ever. Conceptual integrity is central to product quality.

All programmers are optimists. Perhaps this modern sorcery especially attracts those who believe in happy endings and fairy godmothers. Perhaps the hundreds of nitty frustrations drive away all but those who habitually focus on the end goal. Perhaps it is merely that computers are young, programmers are younger, and the young are always optimists.