Comments on: Discipline in Thought http://blog.tmorris.net/discipline-in-thought/ The weblog of Tony Morris Sat, 19 May 2012 02:39:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: John "Z-Bo" Zabroski http://blog.tmorris.net/discipline-in-thought/#comment-1731 John "Z-Bo" Zabroski Tue, 11 Dec 2007 09:27:22 +0000 http://blog.tmorris.net/discipline-in-thought/#comment-1731 When Dijkstra made those comments about BASIC, he was specifically referring to the idea of labeling statements by line number. Similarly, many people believe Dijkstra was the one who came up with the title <em>Goto Statement Considered Harmful</em>. Yet, he didn't. If you want to experience Dijkstra, then the only way is to read his research papers and all 1300 EWDs. <em>A Discipline of Programming</em> is only a small snapshot of his ideas and opinions. Videos are nice, but they do not capture him in his element. In addition, the video is downloadable from the EWD site and there is not fragmented into chunks like the Youtube stream. There are also other videos at the EWD site. Again, the only way to experience Dijkstra is to experience it all the way. At the same time, do not undervalue creativity. Dijkstra only scratches the surface regarding creativity in scientific thought. For example, John Maeda of the MIT Media Lab has a 100 page book that examines simplicity using laws he has come up with. When Dijkstra made those comments about BASIC, he was specifically referring to the idea of labeling statements by line number. Similarly, many people believe Dijkstra was the one who came up with the title Goto Statement Considered Harmful. Yet, he didn’t.

If you want to experience Dijkstra, then the only way is to read his research papers and all 1300 EWDs. A Discipline of Programming is only a small snapshot of his ideas and opinions. Videos are nice, but they do not capture him in his element. In addition, the video is downloadable from the EWD site and there is not fragmented into chunks like the Youtube stream. There are also other videos at the EWD site.

Again, the only way to experience Dijkstra is to experience it all the way.

At the same time, do not undervalue creativity. Dijkstra only scratches the surface regarding creativity in scientific thought. For example, John Maeda of the MIT Media Lab has a 100 page book that examines simplicity using laws he has come up with.

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