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Comment on Dijkstra on the cruelty of really teaching computing science (1988)

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I enjoy Dijkstra's essays.

On one hand, they're wonderfully blunt and unforgiving. I see in their contents statements that I agree with, but also very strict ideas that I know I've broken in the past. I suppose then that reading the EWDs is usually a guilty pleasure.

One the other hand, it would be very difficult to actually employ a lot of his best practice ideas due to the complexities of working in team environments with differently minded colleagues against tight deadlines. Trade-offs have to be made, unfortunately.

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