Dennis Ritchie, father of C programming language, dies

CNET News ^ | Oct 13 | Steven Musil

[budj]

"Dennis Ritchie, an internationally renowned computer scientist who created the C programming language, has died at age 70. ..."

[budj]

Every modern computer language is structured on his "C" model. This man has had more influence on what computers can do today than anyone else.

[DManA]

I’m sorry. He was 70. We are under a curse. We die.

[lefty-lie-spy]

To say “bigger than Jobs” is a bit objective and disrespectful, ut certain Ritchie helped build the computer as a device for everyone. The world runs on C and it’s derivatives. I learned C from the Kernigsn & Ritchie book back in the 80s. I never did to very well at such languages though. Shell scripting and SQL is more my thing. I have a lot of respect for talented C++ programmers such as those that make incredible MMORPGs like World Of Warcraft, etc.

[Texas Fossil]

Inventor of Unix?

“He also made significant contributions to the development of the Unix operating system, for which he received the Turing Award in 1983 (along with Kenneth Thompson).”

[EDINVA]

There are so many who’ve contributed greatly over the years to our quality of life, who are known within the industry where they’ve achieved so much, but not known beyond those boundaries. We live in a celebrity culture where many great, creative, inventive people live and die, and few notice, absent that celebrity. Alas, we are STILL talking about Michael Jackson (who, ok, was creative and talented in his milieu).

[Texas Fossil]

[Texas Fossil]

Is that a Yamaka that he is wearing?

[RussP]

I don’t see the point of comparing the value of two individuals who have recently died.

I recognize Ritchie’s major contributions, and I salute him. But I also think that the C language has been inappropriately used for far more than it was ever designed for. It’s a systems language, great for operating systems, compilers, and such, but a terrible choice for most applications. As Nancy Leveveson of MIT said, it is one of the most error-prone languages ever designed.

[Chunga]

yarmulke

[re_nortex]

In honor of "dmr" passing, read the UNIX-HATERS HANDBOOK. His anti-forward in the book is both hilarious and spot on.

There will be no more segfaults for you hereafter, so rest in peace and bon appetit indeed.

[JRandomFreeper]

Looks more like a comb-over.

/johnny

[JRandomFreeper]

But I also think that the C language has been inappropriately used for far more than it was ever designed for. It’s a systems language, great for operating systems, compilers, and such, but a terrible choice for most applications

Unless you want them to run really, really fast.

C is ok for OSs and for apps.

Nancy needs to get over her inability to put a ' or ; or ` where it goes. :)

It is hateful to idiots.

/johnny

[re_nortex]

"UNIX is very simple, it just needs a genius to understand its simplicity." --dmr

[JRandomFreeper]

Thank you. I'll re-read that, and think of DR.

Dear lord, he was was 70. All the cool guys are getting old and dying.

/johnny

[RussP]

Yeah, with C it will run “really, really fast,” but it will also give you wrong results due to bugs.

By the way, I misspelled the name, it’s Nancy Leveson (I think). At one time, she was the head of the Software Development Lab at MIT. Now she heads some other lab there (can’t recall the name off hand). She wrote a couple of books about safety and software.

[RussP]

That’s funny, but I honestly don’t know what to make of it. First, it’s hard to tell how serious they are. And if these guys are really so disgusted with Unix, I can’t imagine what they must think of Windows! Of course, that book was written back in 1994. I wonder what they think of Linux now.

[JRandomFreeper]

Linus carries the torch these days.

A nordlander, framling, sure, and not varlese. Who black-boxed ATT's Unix(tm). And created linux.

Oy. How far have we fallen from digging in dumpsters in Southern California for enough data to hack the dial tone?

/johnny

[RussP]

Oh, and the I wonder what the Mac unix-hater thinks of the fact that the Mac now runs on Unix!

[JRandomFreeper]

She wrote a couple of books about safety and software.

She wants to impress me, Grace Hopper needs to introduce her.

That old broad, I could respect.

/johnny

[re_nortex]

That’s [UNIX-HATERS HANDBOOK] funny, but I honestly don’t know what to make of it. First, it’s hard to tell how serious they are. And if these guys are really so disgusted with Unix, I can’t imagine what they must think of Windows! Of course, that book was written back in 1994. I wonder what they think of Linux now.

7 With hackers (and I mean that in the true sense of the word -- much like gay is not homosexual), it's hard to separate the sarcasm from the reality. As JRandomFreeper knows, people like Eric Raymond ("esr") and the like have a very dry wit and a fine-tuned sense of irony. They'll be pulling your leg with a deadpan face.

I think the guys behind the book have a love-hate relationship with Unix. I also do sometimes, especially with the X Window System and its baroque authentication method (MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE anyone?). As I read the book in 1994 and on subsequent occasions, I get the impression that the authors really wanted Unix to succeed but were letdown by its flaws. It's almost as if they put it so high on a pedestal that it could never meet their lofty expectations. As Dennis said, "Usenet is a strange place" and as I say, "I could be wrong". :-)