Listening, Testing, Coding, Designing. That's all there is to software. Anyone who tells you different is selling something.

How good the design is doesn't matter near as much as whether the design is getting better or worse. If it is getting better, day by day, I can live with it forever. If it is getting worse, I will die.

Responsible Development is the style of development I aspire to now. It can be summarized by answering the question, How would I develop if it were my money? I'm amazed how many theoretical arguments evaporate when faced with this question.

Testing is not the point. The point is about responsibility.

Make it work, make it right, make it fast.

I've known people who have not mastered their tools who are good programmers, but not a tool master who remained a mediocre programmer.

The system metaphor is a story that everyone--customers, programmers, and managers--can tell about how the system works.