Niklaus Wirth > Quotes

“Increasingly, people seem to interpret complexity as sophistication, which is baffling – the incomprehensible should cause suspicion, not admiration. Possibly this results from the mistaken belief that using a mysterious device confers [extra] power on the user.”
― Niklaus Wirth

“Programs, after all, are concrete formulations
of abstract algorithms based on particular representations and structures
of data.”
― Niklaus Wirth

“The power of recursion evidently lies in the possibility of defining an infinite set of objects by a finite statement. In the same manner, an infinite number of computations can be described by a finite recursive program, even if this program contains no explicit repetitions.”
― Niklaus Wirth, Algorithms and Data Structures

“The task of composition of operations is often considered the heart of the
art of programming. However, it will become evident that the appropriate
composition of data is equally fundamental and essential.”
― Niklaus Wirth, Algorithms + Data Structures = Programs