The venerable master Qc Na was walking with his student, Anton. Hoping to prompt the master into a discussion, Anton said "Master, I have heard that objects are a very good thing - is this true?" Qc Na looked pityingly at his student and replied, "Foolish pupil - objects are merely a poor man's closures." Chastised, Anton took his leave from his master and returned to his cell, intent on studying closures. He carefully read the entire "Lambda: The Ultimate..." series of papers and its cousins, and implemented a small Scheme interpreter with a closure-based object system. He learned much, and looked forward to informing his master of his progress. On his next walk with Qc Na, Anton attempted to impress his master by saying "Master, I have diligently studied the matter, and now understand that objects are truly a poor man's closures." Qc Na responded by hitting Anton with his stick, saying "When will you learn? Closures are a poor man's object." At that moment, Anton became enlightened. -- Anton van Straaten (Na = Norman Adams, Qa = Christian Queinnec)
The best way to learn to live with our limitations is to know them. --E. W. Dijkstra, The humble programmer
Only make new mistakes. -- Phil Dourado
Revolutions come from standing on the shoulders of giants and facing in a better direction. -- Alan Kay
Making All Software Into Tools Reduces Risk. -- smoothspan.com
Within a computer natural language is unnatural. -- Alan J. Perlis (Epigrams in programming)
The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person who is doing it. –Chinese Proverb
I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. ~Thomas A. Edison
I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear. –Rosa Parks
I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well. ~Diane Ackerman