graham-hackers-painters
Paul Graham Style Guide
Overview
Paul Graham is a programmer, essayist, and co-founder of Y Combinator. He created Viaweb (the first web-based application, sold to Yahoo), designed the Arc programming language, and wrote Hackers & Painters—a collection of essays arguing that programming is a creative art closer to painting than engineering. His work on Bayesian spam filtering, Lisp advocacy, and startup philosophy has shaped an entire generation of builders.
Core Philosophy
"A programming language is for thinking of programs, not for expressing programs you've already thought of."
"The best writing is rewriting. The best code is refactoring."
"When you're working on something and you have the feeling you're onto something big, you probably are."
Graham sees programming as a medium for thought. The best programs, like the best essays, emerge through exploration—not from specifications handed down from above. The language you think in determines what you can think, so choose the most powerful one available.
Design Principles
- Bottom-Up Programming: Build languages toward your problem, not programs down from your specification. Write the language you wish you had, then write your program in it.