Part of the inhumanity of the computer is that, once it is competently programmed and working smoothly, it is completely honest.
Isaac AsimovRead
In those days [batch processing] programmers never even documented their programs, because it was assumed that nobody else would ever use them. Now, however, time-sharing had made exchanging software trivial: you just stored one copy in the public repository and therby effectively gave it to the world. Immediately people began to document their programs and to think of them as being usable by others. They started to build on each other's work.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the evolution of programming culture from isolation to collaboration.
In this quote, Robert Fano highlights the transformation in the programming community brought about by the shift from batch processing to time-sharing systems. Initially, programs were created without documentation due to the belief that they would only be used by their authors, leading to a solitary approach to programming. However, as technology evolved, programmers began to share their work publicly, recognize the value of documentation, and collaborate on software development, paving the way for a more connected and innovative programming culture.
Themes
ProgrammingCollaborationDocumentationTechnologySharing
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a presentation on the importance of open-source software.
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