Design is among the most commonly used words of engineering, whereas it is uncommon in science. Design in engineering is a process of finding practical, safe, cost-effective implementations.

— Peter J. Denning and Matti Tedre, Computational Thinking

In my experience most of the complexities which are encountered in systems work are symptoms of organizational malfunctions. Trying to model this reality with equally complex programs is actually to conserve the mess instead of solving the problems.

— Frederick P. Brooks Jr., The Mythical Man-Month

When you can’t deliver ornament, you have to deliver substance.

— Paul Graham, Hackers & Painters

All you have to do to succeed in software is to consistently suck less with every release.

— Max Kanat-Alexander, Understanding Software

Directness is the practice of learning by directly doing the thing you want to learn. Basically, it’s improvement through active practice rather than through passive learning. The phrases learning something new and practicing something new may seem similar, but these two methods can produce profoundly different results. Passive learning creates knowledge. Active practice creates skill.

— Scott Young, Ultralearning