Quoting Peter Naur, Programming as Theory Building, Agile Software Development, Second edition, p. 400, 1985

The death of a program happens when the programmer team possessing its theory is dissolved. A dead program may continue to be used for execution in a computer and to produce useful results. The actual state of death becomes visible when demands for modifications of the program cannot be intelligently answered. Revival of a program is the rebuilding of its theory by a new programmer team.
— Peter Naur, Programming as Theory Building, Agile Software Development, Second edition, p. 400, 1985 (via)

8:25pm on September 30, 2025 from North Ossetia–Alania, Russia


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         title: Peter Naur, Programming as Theory Building, Agile Software Development, Second edition, p. 400, 1985
      category: references
     secondary: quotes
     available: 2025-09-30 20:25:32
       created: 2025-09-30 20:25:32
       updated: 2025-09-30 20:25:32
       creator: Silas Jelley
   description: The death of a program happens when the programmer team possessing its theory is dissolved. A dead program may continue to be used for execution in a computer and to produce useful results. The actual
        layout: default
        source:
                title: Programming as Theory Building
                creator: Peter Naur
                year: 1985
                pages: 400
                publication: Agile Software Development
                edition: Second
                url: https://gwern.net/doc/cs/algorithm/1985-naur.pdf
           via: {'url': 'https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45424366'}
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