Hiring people to write code to sell is not the same as hiring people to design and build durable, usable, dependable software. --Larry Constantine

programming requires more concentration than other activities. It's the reason programmers get upset about 'quick interruptions' - such interruptions are tantamount to asking a juggler to keep three balls in the air and hold your groceries at the same time. --Steve McConnell, Code Complete

Most software today is very much like an Egyptian pyramid with millions of bricks piled on top of each other, with no structural integrity, but just done by brute force and thousands of slaves. – Alan Kay