On their first day in the temple, the Java master posed the
following three questions to the novices:
“Oftimes, when we acquire a new language or library, the
first program we write is Hello, World. Its purpose is to
inscribe these words in some fashion that will demonstrate
the expected behavior of the technology. After this is done,
the program is never run again.
“Now: why does it say hello, and not also goodbye?
“And: why say hello to the world, when the audience is but a
single soul who will discard it after its first cry is
uttered?
“And: why should it utter a greeting, which will never be
answered in kind?”
Speak me a word which means hello and goodbye—
is it not the first cry of an infant?
Find me a pinnacle from which the world may be seen—
