Quote #4 The Princicples Of Modularity, Simplicity, Or Orthogonality, Insofar As They Contribute To Overall Simplicity, Are An Excellent Means To An End

Quote #4 The Princicples Of Modularity, Simplicity, Or Orthogonality, Insofar As They Contribute To Overall Simplicity, Are An Excellent Means To An End

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Quote #4

The princicples of modularity, simplicity, or orthogonality, insofar as they
contribute to overall simplicity, are an excellent means to an end; but as a
substitute for simplicity they are very questionable. Since in practice they
have proved to be a technically more difficult achievement than simplicity,
it is foolish to accept them as primary objectives.

-- C.A.R. Hoare, "Hints on programming language design"

[STAN-CS-73-403 (AIM-224), p.7]

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