Dijkstra, Math, and Communication

Posted on May 23, 2008
Filed Under Computer Science |

A competent programmer’s most important assets are –perhaps in this order– an excellent mastery of his native tongue and a considerable mathematical maturity.

~ Edsger Dijkstra: “E.W.D. 750: America’s Programming Plight“

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Comments

2 Responses to “Dijkstra, Math, and Communication”

  1. Mustafa K. Isik on May 23rd, 2008 1:13 am

    Hi Jake,

    I suggest you have a look at what other luminaries had to say about this - Alan Kay at his OOPSLA 1997 keynote in particular ;)

    Video after the jump:

    http://dotplan.codesurgeonblog.com/post/25598947/alan-kay-on-e-w-dijkstra-and-the-nature-of-math

    Btw, none of this means that I disagree with Dijkstra, but Kay’s point is not to be dismissed either.

  2. Jake on May 23rd, 2008 8:47 am

    It looks like Kay’s speech doesn’t dismiss this particular quote by Dijkstra. Kay is calling for a new kind of math (large-scale and structured), but one that still demands the same consistency and rigor of Classical mathematics.

    Thanks for the link! I’ve never seen that before, and a) it was a great extension of this quote, and b) Alan Kay is apparently a hilarious man.

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