Edsger W Dijkstra :
How do we convince people that in programming simplicity and clarity —in short: what mathematicians call "elegance"— are not a dispensable luxury, but a crucial matter that decides between success and failure?
#
Simplicity
#
Success
#
Failure
Gift it
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=79545&author=Edsger W Dijkstra"e=How+do+we+convince+people+that+in+programming+simplicity+and+clarity+%E2%80%94in+short%3A+what+mathematicians+call+%22elegance%22%E2%80%94+are+not+a+dispensable+luxury%2C+but+a+crucial+matter+that+decides+between+success+and+failure%3F%0A&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F5841%2FEdsger+W._Dijkstra_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=79544&author=Edsger W Dijkstra"e=Elegance+is+not+a+dispensable+luxury+but+a+quality+that+decides+between+success+and+failure.%0A&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F5841%2FEdsger+W._Dijkstra_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=74665&author=Coco Chanel"e=Elegance+is+refusal.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F122%2FCoco_Chanel_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=2985&author=French Proverb"e=++Nothing+is+more+elegant+than+ready+money%21&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2Fimages_web%2Fauthor_no_icon.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=2986&author=Yves Saint-Laurent"e=++We+must+never+confuse+elegance+with+snobbery.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F22%2FYves_Saint-Laurent_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=2982&author=Coco Chanel"e=++Elegance+does+not+consist+in+putting+on+a+new+dress.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F122%2FCoco_Chanel_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=2983&author=Oliver Wendell Holmes"e=++Even+the+wisest+woman+you+talk+to+is+ignorant+of+something+you+may+know%2C+but+an+elegant+woman+never+forgets+her+elegance.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F8161%2FOliver+Wendell_Holmes_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=78333&author=Salvador Dalí"e=What+is+an+elegant+woman%3F+An+elegant+woman+is+a+woman+who+despises+you+and+who+has+no+hair+under+her+arms.%0A&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2Fimages_web%2Fauthor_no_icon.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=2987&author=Vivienne Westwood"e=++It+is+not+possible+for+a+man+to+be+elegant+without+a+touch+of+femininity.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F1499%2FVivienne+Westwood_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=57284&author=Stuart Seaton"e=The+human+brain+is+a+most+unusual+instrument+of+elegant+and+as+yet+unknown+capacity.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F11089%2FStuart_Seaton_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=2984&author=Christian Lacroix"e=++For+me%2C+elegance+is+not+to+pass+unnoticed+but+to+get+to+the+very+soul+of+what+one+is.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F1496%2FChristian+Lacroix_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=26459&author=Edsger W Dijkstra"e=++The+question+of+whether+a+computer+can+think+is+no+more+interesting+than+the+question+of+whether+a+submarine+can+swim.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F5841%2FEdsger+W._Dijkstra_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=79557&author=Edsger W Dijkstra"e=FORTRAN%27s+tragic+fate+has+been+its+wide+acceptance%2C+mentally+chaining+thousands+and+thousands+of+programmers+to+our+past+mistakes.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F5841%2FEdsger+W._Dijkstra_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=79540&author=Edsger W Dijkstra"e=I+think+of+the+company+advertising+%22Thought+Processors%22+or+the+college+pretending+that+learning+BASIC+suffices+or+at+least+helps%2C+whereas+the+teaching+of+BASIC+should+be+rated+as+a+criminal+offence%3A+it+mutilates+the+mind+beyond+recovery.%0A&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F5841%2FEdsger+W._Dijkstra_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=79541&author=Edsger W Dijkstra"e=Testing+shows+the+presence%2C+not+the+absence+of+bugs%0A&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F5841%2FEdsger+W._Dijkstra_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=79542&author=Edsger W Dijkstra"e=Program+testing+can+be+used+to+show+the+presence+of+bugs%2C+but+never+to+show+their+absence%21%0A&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F5841%2FEdsger+W._Dijkstra_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=79543&author=Edsger W Dijkstra"e=The+competent+programmer+is+fully+aware+of+the+limited+size+of+his+own+skull.+He+therefore+approaches+his+task+with+full+humility%2C+and+avoids+clever+tricks+like+the+plague.%0A&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F5841%2FEdsger+W._Dijkstra_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=79546&author=Edsger W Dijkstra"e=Write+a+paper+promising+salvation%2C+make+it+a+%27structured%27+something+or+a+%27virtual%27+something%2C+or+%27abstract%27%2C+%27distributed%27+or+%27higher-order%27+or+%27applicative%27+and+you+can+almost+be+certain+of+having+started+a+new+cult.%0A&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F5841%2FEdsger+W._Dijkstra_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=79547&author=Edsger W Dijkstra"e=For+me%2C+the+first+challenge+for+computing+science+is+to+discover+how+to+maintain+order+in+a+finite%2C+but+very+large%2C+discrete+universe+that+is+intricately+intertwined.+And+a+second%2C+but+not+less+important+challenge+is+how+to+mould+what+you+have+achieved+in+solving+the+first+problem%2C+into+a+teachable+discipline%3A+it+does+not+suffice+to+hone+your+own+intellect+%28that+will+join+you+in+your+grave%29%2C+you+must+teach+others+how+to+hone+theirs.+The+more+you+concentrate+on+these+two+challenges%2C+the+clearer+you+will+see+that+they+are+only+two+sides+of+the+same+coin%3A+teaching+yourself+is+discovering+what+is+teachable.%0A&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F5841%2FEdsger+W._Dijkstra_64x64.png){kind=link}