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| Newer page: | version 6 | Last edited on Saturday, July 31, 2004 10:04:23 pm | by JohnMcPherson | Revert |
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;: Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes. %%% ''— EdsgerWybeDijkstra''
It is only consequent that one of his most well known papers is GoToStatementConsideredHarmful, but he also wrote over thirteen hundred other works, all using the fountain pen rather than a computer, which are archived in digital form at [http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD].
+Interesting piece of trivia - Dijkstra submitted the paper with the title "A case against the goto statement", but the editor shortened it to the now famous name. (The editor was NicolasWirth.)
His eloquence and way with words is famous. Many concepts and phrases now common in computing originate from him: structured programming, separation of concerns, [Synchronisation], [Semaphore], DeadlyEmbrace, DiningPhilosophers, weakest PreCondition, guarded command, the excluded miracle. He may have been the one who first used the words "vector" and "[stack|Stack]" in a computing context with their now established meanings. Other quotations of him to demonstrate his sharp wit:
;: "The question of whether computers can think is like the question of whether submarines can swim."
