Tuesday, October 19, 2010

wired: "Oct. 14, 1985: C++ Adds to Programming"

Interview with Bjarne Stroustrup (C++ is 25... a bit outdated).
Wired.com: Most programmers are particular about the music they listen to while coding or writing. What do you listen to?

Stroustrup: Tchaikovsky’s Fifth, Wagner’s The Ring Without Words, Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite, Sibelius, Nielsen’s The Inextinguishable, various Mozart concertos, The Dixie Chicks, Beatles’ Abbey Road, Handel’s Messiah and Water Music, Eric Clapton, Beethoven’s Fifth and Seventh. I looked to see what my laptop had been playing lately.
...
Wired.com: Any advice for young programmers?

Stroustrup: I guess giving advice is easy compared to taking it. Know your fundamentals (algorithms, data structures, machine architecture, systems) and know several programming languages to the point where you can use them idiomatically.
Know some non-computer field of study well — math, biology, history, optics, whatever. Learn to communicate effectively in speech and in writing. Spend an unreasonable amount of time on some difficult topic to really master it. Try to do something that might make a difference in the world.

Full story via wired.com

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