113 Quotes About Computer-science

I used to do machine language programming in the lights on the front panel of a computer; now I do higher-dimensional type theory. It's a little bit crazy.

A system of logical instructions that an automaton can carry out and which causes the automaton to perform some organized task is called a code.

I got more interested in the calculator than I did in the problem.

The great paradox of automation is that the desire to eliminate human labor always generates new tasks for humans.

The component structure cannot be designed from the top down. It is not one of the first things about the system that is designed, but rather evolves as the system grows and changes.

Automation vs. human labor is a false dichotomy

The very last stage of any memory hierarchy is necessarily the outside world—that is, the outside world as far as the machine is concerned, i.e. that part of it with which the machine can directly communicate, in other words, the input and the output organs of the machine. These are usually punched paper tapes or cards, and on the output side, of course, also printed paper.

All existing machines and memories use "direct addressing," which is to say that every word in the memory has a numerical address of its own that characterizes it and its position within the memory (the total aggregate of all hierarchic levels) uniquely.

Any artificial automaton that has been constructed for human use, and specifically for the control of complicated processes, normally possesses a purely logical part and an arithmetical part, i.e. a part in which arithmetical processes play no role, and one in which they are of importance.