# Edsger W. Dijkstra - The Humble Programmer (Highlights)  ## Metadata **Review**:: [readwise.io](https://readwise.io/bookreview/56138888) **Source**:: #from/readwise #from/reader **Zettel**:: #zettel/fleeting **Status**:: #x **Authors**:: [[Edsger W. Dijkstra]] **Full Title**:: The Humble Programmer **Category**:: #articles #readwise/articles **Category Icon**:: 📰 **URL**:: [www.cs.utexas.edu](https://www.cs.utexas.edu/~EWD/transcriptions/EWD03xx/EWD340.html) **Host**:: [[www.cs.utexas.edu]] **Highlighted**:: [[2025-11-09]] **Created**:: [[2025-11-15]] ## Highlights - The one opinion was that a really competent programmer should be puzzle-minded and very fond of clever tricks; the other opinion was that programming was nothing more than optimizing the efficiency of the computational process, in one direction or the other. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01k9m95n4cvrh2hc311377jm01)) ^955764532 - The reason that I have paid the above attention to the hardware scene is because I have the feeling that one of the most important aspects of any computing tool is its influence on the thinking habits of those that try to use it, and because I have reasons to believe that that influence is many times stronger than is commonly assumed. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01k9m9a4fqqa77hr8fbbn0v97j)) ^955764662