THE CODE ISSUE 5

Duda Owner IONOS • July 6, 2015

Here is another one of my favorite quotes from the special double issue of Bloomberg Businessweek on computer coding. This addresses how fundamentally simple computers are while simultaneously having the capacity for the most amazing intricacy if simply given the correct coding (Paul Ford, “The Code Issue”, 6/15/15–6/28/15, pp. 28, 30):

Every character truly, truly matters. Every single stupid misplaced semicolon, space where you meant tab, bracket instead of a parenthesis—mistakes can leave the computer in a state of panic. The trees don’t know where to put their leaves. Their roots decay. The boxes don’t stack neatly. For not only are computers as dumb as a billion marbles, they’re also positively Stradivarian in their delicacy.





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