> Like a Renaissance man, or one of those 18-th century "philosophers" who knew no discipline boundaries, Wirth straddled many subjects. It was in particular still possible (and perhaps necessary) in his generation to pay attention to both hardware and software. Wirth is most remembered for his software work but he was also a hardware builder
> One of his maxims was indeed that the field remains driven by hardware advances, which make software progress possible.
> One of his maxims for a successful career was that there are a few things that you don't want to do because they are boring or feel useless, but if you don't take care of them right away they will come back and take even more of your time, so you should devote 10% of that time to discharge them promptly.
> Wirth seems to have decided in reaction to the enormity of Algol 68 that simplicity and small size were the cardinal virtues of a language design, leading to Pascal
> One of his maxims was indeed that the field remains driven by hardware advances, which make software progress possible.
> One of his maxims for a successful career was that there are a few things that you don't want to do because they are boring or feel useless, but if you don't take care of them right away they will come back and take even more of your time, so you should devote 10% of that time to discharge them promptly.
> Wirth seems to have decided in reaction to the enormity of Algol 68 that simplicity and small size were the cardinal virtues of a language design, leading to Pascal