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Tag Tag Programming languages
Here is a language so far ahead of its time that it was not only an improvement on its predecessors but also on nearly all its successors.
Tony Hoare Hints on Programming-Language Design · 1974

Quotes

“I call it my billion-dollar mistake. It was the invention of the null reference in 1965.”

Tony Hoare · Null References: The Billion Dollar Mistake, 2009 · Primary source

Works

Tony Hoare · 1974
Hints on Programming-Language Design

Practical advice on designing programming languages, arguing that they should prioritise simplicity, reliability and the needs of the programmer over elaborate features.

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Tony Hoare · 2009
Null References: The Billion Dollar Mistake

A talk in which Hoare reflects on his 1965 invention of the null reference, calling it a mistake that caused decades of costly software errors.

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Related Tags

ALGOL 60 1 Language design 4 Innovation 6 Progress 6 Null reference 1 Design mistakes 1 Software errors 2 Regret 4 Simplicity 24 Reliability 12 Readability 1 Null references 1 Algol w 1