Niklaus Wirth Quotes

A collection of quotes by Niklaus Wirth.

Niklaus Wirth is a Swiss computer scientist and the recipient of the Turing Award in 1984 for his significant contributions to compiler construction and programming language design. He was born on February 15, 1934, in Winterthur, Switzerland. Wirth attended the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich), where he earned his Bachelor's degree in Electronics in 1959, followed by a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering in 1963.

During his time as a professor at ETH Zurich, Wirth developed several influential programming languages including Algol W, Pascal, and Modula-2. These languages emphasized simplicity, clarity, and efficiency, making them popular choices for teaching and writing reliable software.

Wirth also designed and implemented the Lilith and Oberon operating systems which, like his programming languages, aimed for simplicity and robustness. His notable textbook "Algorithms + Data Structures = Programs" became widely used in computer science education.

Throughout his career, Wirth emphasized the importance of conceptual simplicity in computer science, promoting the idea that complex software systems should be built from small, simple yet powerful components. His work has had a profound impact on programming language design, compiler construction, and system development approaches.

Even after his retirement, Wirth continued to contribute to the field, working on new programming languages and projects. His dedication and influential contributions have firmly established him as a pioneer in computer science and software engineering.

But active programming consists of the design of new program

But active programming consists of the design of new programs, rather than contemplation of old programs.

Niklaus Wirth


Nevertheless, I consider OOP as an aspect of programming in

Nevertheless, I consider OOP as an aspect of programming in the large that is, as an aspect that logically follows programming in the small and requires sound knowledge of procedural programming.

Niklaus Wirth

Knowledge

My duty as a teacher is to train, educate future programmers

My duty as a teacher is to train, educate future programmers.

Niklaus Wirth

Future

My being a teacher had a decisive influence on making langua

My being a teacher had a decisive influence on making language and systems as simple as possible so that in my teaching, I could concentrate on the essential issues of programming rather than on details of language and notation.

Niklaus Wirth

Teacher

A good designer must rely on experience, on precise, logic t

A good designer must rely on experience, on precise, logic thinking and on pedantic exactness. No magic will do.

Niklaus Wirth

Design

In the practical world of computing, it is rather uncommon t

In the practical world of computing, it is rather uncommon that a program, once it performs correctly and satisfactorily, remains unchanged forever.

Niklaus Wirth

Computers

Clearly, programming courses should teach methods of design

Clearly, programming courses should teach methods of design and construction, and the selected examples should be such that a gradual development can be nicely demonstrated.

Niklaus Wirth

Design