FACTOID # 158: 84% of people in Finland feel that they are at a low risk of experiencing a burglary - but just look at how many burglaries they have!
 
 Home   Encyclopedia   Statistics   Countries A-Z   Flags   Maps   Education   Forum   FAQ   About 
 
WHAT'S NEW
RECENT ARTICLES
More Recent Articles »
 

FACTS & STATISTICS    Simple view

  1. Select countries to view: (hold down Control key and click to select several)

     

     

    Compare:

     

     
  1. Select fact or statistic: (* = graphable)

     

     

     

  2. (OPTIONAL) Compare to statistic: (both need to be graphable)

     

     

     

  3. View result as:

     

       
(OR) SEARCH ALL encyclopedia, stats & forums:   

Encyclopedia > Considered harmful

In computer science and related disciplines, "considered harmful" is a phrase popularly used in the titles of diatribes and other critical essays. It was popularized by Edsger Dijkstra's letter "Go To Statement Considered Harmful",[1] published in the March 1968 Communications of the ACM (CACM), in which he criticized the excessive use of the GOTO statement in programming languages of the day and advocated structured programming instead.[2] The original title of the letter, as submitted to CACM, was "A Case Against the Goto Statement," but CACM editor Niklaus Wirth changed the title to the now immortalized "Go To Statement Considered Harmful."[3] Computer science, or computing science, is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their implementation and application in computer systems. ... Edsger Dijkstra Edsger Wybe Dijkstra (Rotterdam, May 11, 1930 – Nuenen, August 6, 2002; IPA: ) was a Dutch computer scientist. ... The Association for Computing Machinery, or ACM, was founded in 1947 as the worlds first scientific and educational computing society. ... GOTO is a statement found in many computer programming languages. ... A statement is the minimal unit of structuring in imperative programming languages. ... A programming language is an artificial language that can be used to control the behavior of a machine, particularly a computer. ... Structured programming can be seen as a subset or subdiscipline of procedural programming, one of the major programming paradigms. ... Niklaus E. Wirth (born February 15, 1934) is a Swiss computer scientist, best known for designing several programming languages, including Pascal, and for pioneering several classic topics in software engineering. ...


Frank Rubin published a criticism of Dijkstra's letter in the March 1987 CACM where it appeared under the title "'GOTO Considered Harmful' Considered Harmful"[4]. The May 1987 CACM printed further replies, both for and against, under the title "'"GOTO Considered Harmful" Considered Harmful' Considered Harmful?"[5]. Dijkstra's own response to this controversy was thankfully titled "On a somewhat disappointing correspondence".[6]


Some variants with replacement adjectives ("considered silly", etc.) have been noted in hacker jargon,[7] making the phrase a snowclone. Appearance of such a usage in a serious article is considered extraneous. In grammar, an adjective is a word whose main syntactic role is to modify a noun or pronoun (called the adjectives subject), giving more information about what the noun or pronoun refers to. ... This article is about computer hacking. ... For the glossary of hacker slang, see Jargon File. ... A snowclone is a type of formula-based cliché which uses an old idiom in a new context. ...


According to linguist Mark Liberman, "considered harmful" was a journalistic cliche, used in headlines, well before the Dijkstra article. He cites the headline the New York Times put over a letter published August 12, 1949: "Rent Control Controversy / Enacting Now of Hasty Legislation Considered Harmful". [8] Mark Liberman is a linguist. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...


References

  1. ^ Edsger Dijkstra (March 1968). "Go To Statement Considered Harmful". Communications of the ACM 11 (3): 147–148. 
  2. ^ David R. Tribble (February 2005). Go To Statement Considered Harmful: A Retrospective.
  3. ^ Edsger Dijkstra (June 2001). What led to "Notes on Structured Programming".
  4. ^ Frank Rubin (March 1987). ""GOTO Considered Harmful" Considered Harmful". Communications of the ACM 30 (3): 195–196. 
  5. ^ Donald Moore, Chuck Musciano, Michael J. Liebhaber, Steven F. Lott and Lee Starr (May 1987). ""'GOTO Considered Harmful' Considered Harmful" Considered Harmful?". Communications of the ACM 30 (5): 351–355. 
  6. ^ Edsger Dijkstra (May 1987). On a somewhat disappointing correspondence.
  7. ^ Eric S. Raymond et al.. The Jargon File.
  8. ^ http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004675.html#more

Edsger Dijkstra Edsger Wybe Dijkstra (Rotterdam, May 11, 1930 – Nuenen, August 6, 2002; IPA: ) was a Dutch computer scientist. ... Edsger Dijkstra Edsger Wybe Dijkstra (Rotterdam, May 11, 1930 – Nuenen, August 6, 2002; IPA: ) was a Dutch computer scientist. ... Edsger Dijkstra Edsger Wybe Dijkstra (Rotterdam, May 11, 1930 – Nuenen, August 6, 2002; IPA: ) was a Dutch computer scientist. ... Eric S. Raymond (FISL 6. ...

Some other well-known "considered harmful" essays

  • Tom Christiansen (October 1996). Csh Programming Considered Harmful.
  • Peter Miller (1998). "Recursive Make Considered Harmful". AUUGN Journal of AUUG Inc. 19 (1): 14–25. 
  • Johnathan Amsterdam (February 2002). "Java's new Considered Harmful". Software Development Magazine. 
  • Eric A. Meyer (December 2002). "Considered Harmful" Essays Considered Harmful.
  • Erik Möller (September 2005). Creative Commons -NC Licenses Considered Harmful.

  Results from FactBites:
 
"Considered Harmful" Essays Considered Harmful (1229 words)
Because "considered harmful" essays are, by their nature, so incendiary, they are counter-productive both in terms of encouraging open and intelligent debate, and in gathering support for the view they promote.
Usually such "considered harmful" essays are intended to draw attention to a little-known subject about which the author is passionate, or to highlight what the author feels to be a poor decision by someone else.
The writing of a "considered harmful" essay often serves to inflame whatever debate is in progress, and thus makes it that much harder for a solution to be found through any means.
  More results at FactBites »


 

COMMENTARY     


Share your thoughts, questions and commentary here
Your name
Your comments
Please enter the 5-letter protection code

Want to know more?
Search encyclopedia, statistics and forums:
 


Lesson Plans | Student Area | Student FAQ | Reviews | Press Releases |  Feeds | Contact
The Wikipedia article included on this page is licensed under the GFDL.
Images may be subject to relevant owners' copyright.
All other elements are (c) copyright NationMaster.com 2003-5. All Rights Reserved.
Usage implies agreement with terms.