Posted on 07/11/2015 9:17:04 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
The apps and games you use every day don't exist in a vacuum — someone, somewhere, wrote the code.
That also goes for the underlying platforms and hardware that those apps run on. And the web. And the entire Internet itself.
Even the programming languages that people use to build this stuff first had to be written by somebody else.
So who's at the top of the programming pyramid?
1) Linus Torvalds created Linux, a free operating system, in his dorm room at the University of Helsinki. Today, Linux is the operating system of choice for data centers, supercomputers, and server farms everywhere — as well as a dedicated cadre of enthusiasts.
Torvalds is also well known for his sharp tongue — when an audience member at a recent talk asked Torvalds if he thought his manner was turning off members of the Linux community, he replied "I don't care about you."
2) Sir Tim Berners-Lee is the only entrant on this list to earn a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II. He invented the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), the technology on which the entire World Wide Web is built.
These days, Berners-Lee is leading the Alliance for Affordable Internet, a non-profit backed by the likes of Google, Facebook, and Microsoft, that's trying to make broadband Internet access more affordable for everybody in the world.
3) Donald Knuth's academic work in computer science has earned him the title of the "father of the analysis of algorithms." Everything from the Facebook news feed algorithm to Amazon suggestions owes something to his work.
At 77 years old, Knuth is still writing his multi-volume work "The Art of Computer Programming," with the most recent installment coming out in 2011. He's also a professor emeritus at Stanford University.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Good thing these guy reached their technical peak before an H-1b visa grunt would have put them out on the street.
Good article, thanks!
In other words, he's trying to spend other people's money i.e. he's a Marxist.
Pretty much. The H1b program takes entry level jobs from Americans, killing their ability to get started
Linus Torvalds
Sir Tim Berners-Lee
Donald Knuth
Brenden Eich
Solomon Hykes
Mark Zuckerberg
David Heinemeier Hansson
Richard Stallman
Bram Cohen
James Gosling
Bjarne Stroustrup
John Carmack
So how many do you know by name, without a search?
Seven out of twelve. I’ve even read Stroustrop’s book.
Even mentioning Zuckerberg’s name in the same room as this list is an insult to all others
What about the inventor of Unix and C, David Kernighan? Last time I checked he was still working.
Considering the first two are a Finn and a Brit not working in the United States ....
I don’t think h1b applies
Mark Zuckerberg never was much of a programmer, and even if he was, he isn’t even in the same universe as the rest of the programmer rock stars in that list.
Always purchase/hire from the HIGHEST bidder, right?
If OPEC jacks up the price of oil, we should never consider producing more.
Competition works wonders. High priced elitists should deliver more bang for the buck if they want to justify those higher salaries.
The whining about H1B visas sounds suspiciously like union members complaining about “scabs”.
Or Ivy League grads touting their being part of an intellectual superior tribe rather than actually doing a better job.
May the best man win, not the one with the best political connections.
I recognized 6 of the 12, mostly due to Linux, C/C++, and Doom.
RE: So how many do you know by name, without a search?
Brenden Eich comes to mind immediately. He invented one of the most popular web langues — JavaScript, become the CEO of Mozilla, and became an unintended victim of the gay culture wars when he was discovered to have contributed a few thousand bucks to the Traditional Marriage movement in California.
He was hounded out of office. We don’t know what he’s doing now...
Brendan Eich aside, Linus Torvaldis is well known for his work on LINUX.
I know Donald Knuth because the book he authored was used as a text book of mine in college. Likewise Brenden Eich, whose book on C++ is a classic.
If you program in Java, everyone who does knows James Gosling.
Of course the most famous of the lot is none other than Mark Zuckerberg. Even none programmers know who he is.
Linus Torvalds created Linux, a free operating system, in his dorm room at the University of Helsinki.
Berners-Lee worked as an independent contractor from June to December 1980 when he proposed a project based on the concept of hypertext, to facilitate sharing and updating information among researchers. To demonstrate, he built a prototype system named ENQUIRE.
Whine all you want, but people don't need your protectionism to create and invent. The very first two names on that list surely didn't. And those who use H1-B visas could also invent and create similar, maybe even better, inventions. Maybe your inability to compete has more to do with your abilities than the H1-B program and the lower wages they might request.
Looking at the actual story we add Zuckerberg who created Facebook from his dorm room... Bram Cohen developed BitTorrent on his own, using free porn to lure beta testers... Richard Stallman is all about software freedom, he’s not exactly a corporate type... there’s half of the list so far... shall I keep going?
David Heinemeier Hansson wrote Ruby on Rails while in college... Solomon Hykes released Docker as open source in MAR 2013... Knuth did his literary work after his PhD, and becoming a professor, and the books were commissioned, prompting him to do his ground-breaking research... I see only 2-3 of the top 10 who could possibly have been impacted if half of everyone in the field were H1B visas from other nations.
“Richard Stallman, software freedom fighter”
Headshake.
He’s a Bearded Leftist Freak. Yes, he is a programmer. I used EMACs editor for a time.
“So how many do you know by name, without a search? “
But to answer your question? 2
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