Dijkstra (1970) "Notes On Structured Programming" (EWD249), Section 3 ("On The Reliability of Mechanisms"), p. 6.
“
When we take the position that it is not only the programmer's responsibility to produce a correct program but also to demonstrate its correctness in a convincing manner, then the above remarks have a profound influence on the programmer's activity: the object he has to produce must be usefully structured.
— Edsger W. Dijkstra
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "When we take the position that it is not only the programmer's responsibility to produce a correct program but also to demonstrate its correctness in a convincing manner, then the above remarks have a profound influence on the programmer's activity: the object he has to produce must be usefully structured." in the context of "Dijkstra (1970) "Notes On Structured Programming" (EWD249), Section 3 ("On The Reliability of Mechanisms"), p. 6." to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Edsger W. Dijkstra" (Quotes, 1970s)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Tags
About Edsger W. Dijkstra
Edsger Wybe Dijkstra (11 May 1930 – 6 August 2002) was a Dutch computer scientist, mathematician, programmer, software engineer, and science essayist.
About Edsger W. Dijkstra
Edsger Wybe Dijkstra (11 May 1930 – 6 August 2002) was a Dutch computer scientist, mathematician, programmer, software engineer, and science essayist.
View all quotes →