

Tony Hoare / Historically Bad Ideas: "Null References: The Billion Dollar Mistake" - shailesh
http://lambda-the-ultimate.org/node/3186

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jacquesm
This makes me wonder what really is the biggest mistake by a single individual
in $ ?

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shailesh
Once I read a book on compilers, can't recollect the name, that quoted Niklaus
Wirth. Basically, he said that the hardest part in designing a language is to
decide on what is to be left out. That idea and Hoare's reflection, seem to
confirm the hypotheses that most woes in human endeavor seem to stem from
gratuitous - often in hindsight, omission or commission to something.

