This article by Charles Miller says there are only two things that are really important to any discipline. This may or may not be true, but I really think he nailed it when it comes to programming.
Computer Programming:
- Every problem can be solved by breaking it up into a series of smaller problems.
- The computer will always do exactly what you tell it to.
Software Engineering:
- Writing the code is the easy part. Writing it so someone else can understand it later is the important part.
- Make it work, then make it elegant, then make it fast.
It’s very nice to see there are people out there who can summarize things in such a comprehensive and spot-on manner.