Ken Thompson Quotes

When in doubt, use brute force.
Ken Thompson

Doubt, Force, Brute

I wanted to separate data from programs, because data and instructions are very different.
Ken Thompson

Different, Wanted, Separate

It is only the inadequacy of the criminal code that saves the hackers from very serious prosecution.
Ken Thompson

Serious, Hackers, Criminal

One of my most productive days was throwing away 1,000 lines of code.
Ken Thompson

Away, Days, Productive

There's a lot of power in executing data - generating data and executing data.
Ken Thompson

Power, Data, Executing

In fact, we started off with two or three different shells and the shell had life of its own.
Ken Thompson

Life, Different, Two

You can't trust code that you did not totally create yourself.
Ken Thompson

Trust, Yourself, Create

A well installed microcode bug will be almost impossible to detect.
Ken Thompson

Impossible, Almost, Bug

Grant, if we edited Fortran, I assume that you'd put a column thing in there.
Ken Thompson

Put, Assume, Edited

I also have an idea for a book on biodiversity, and why and how we should be conserving it.
Ken Thompson

Book, Why, Idea

I am a programmer.
Ken Thompson

I am a very bottom-up thinker.
Ken Thompson

I think the major good idea in Unix was its clean and simple interface: open, close, read, and write.
Ken Thompson

Good, Simple, Write

I wanted to avoid, special IO for terminals.
Ken Thompson

Special, Wanted, Avoid

I wanted to have virtual memory, at least as it's coupled with file systems.
Ken Thompson

Wanted, Memory, Systems

If you want to go somewhere, goto is the best way to get there.
Ken Thompson

Best, Somewhere

In college, before video games, we would amuse ourselves by posing programming exercises.
Ken Thompson

Before, College, Ourselves

It's always good to take an orthogonal view of something. It develops ideas.
Ken Thompson

Good, Ideas, View

No amount of source-level verification or scrutiny will protect you from using untrusted code.
Ken Thompson

Protect, Using, Code

On the one hand, the press, television, and movies make heroes of vandals by calling them whiz kids.
Ken Thompson

Movies, Kids, Hand

One is that the perfect garden can be created overnight, which it can't.
Ken Thompson

Perfect, Garden, Overnight

So maybe I can go back to being a Gardeners' World addict again.
Ken Thompson

Again, Maybe, Addict

That brings me to Dennis Ritchie. Our collaboration has been a thing of beauty.
Ken Thompson

Beauty, Brings, Dennis

The average gardener probably knows little about what is going on in his or her garden.
Ken Thompson

Her, Knows, Garden

The X server has to be the biggest program I've ever seen that doesn't do anything for you.
Ken Thompson

Seen, Biggest, Program

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Biography

Nationality: American

Type: Scientist

Born: February 4, 1943

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Cite this Page: Citation

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