On the Art of Programming and Great Programmers

I visited the Computer History Museum in Mountain View yesterday as part of a joint event for Cambridge and SOAS alumni and had a pleasant afternoon. We were given a tour by Dr. John Mashey, one of the museum's trustees, so it was nice to get some interesting insights by someone so closely connected the museum. One of the impressive things I enjoyed was a demonstration of Charles Babbage's Difference Engine. There's only two in the world, the other being at the Science Museum in London.

There was one quote at the museum that I found inspiring.

Computer programming is an art, because it applies accumulated knowledge to the world, because it requires skill and ingenuity, and because it produces objects of beauty. 

- Donald Knuth 1974

On the other hand, when John was describing the talents of Dennis Ritchie and Ken Thompson (the creators of Unix), he explained that only a few can become masters of this art.

Computer science is one of those human endeavors where those who are good at it are far better than those are who aren't.

Sadly, the skewed distribution of skill involved means I likely won't become a great programmer. Nevertheless, programming is certainly a beautiful art even amateurs can appreciate for its intrinsic enjoyment.

Finally, on a related note, I must say that Programming, Motherfucker—despite its name—is pretty nice beginner's resource.