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Dennis Ritchie

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Dennis MacAlistair Ritchie
File:Dennis MacAlistair Ritchie .jpg
Dennis Ritchie, 1999
Born(1941-09-09)September 9, 1941
Bronxville, New York, U.S.
Diedc. October 12, 2011(2011-10-12) (aged 70)
Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma materHarvard University
Known forALTRAN
B
BCPL
C
Multics
Unix
AwardsTuring Award
National Medal of Technology
Scientific career
FieldsComputer science
InstitutionsLucent Technologies
Bell Labs

Dennis MacAlistair Ritchie (September 9, 1941 – c. October 12, 2011)[1][2][3][4] was an American computer scientist who "helped shape the digital era."[1] He created the C programming language and, with long-time colleague Ken Thompson, the Unix operating system.[1] Ritchie and Thompson received the Turing Award from the ACM in 1983, the Hamming Medal from the IEEE in 1990 and the National Medal of Technology from President Clinton in 1999. Ritchie was the head of Lucent Technologies System Software Research Department when he retired in 2007. He was the 'R' in K&R C and commonly known by his username dmr.

Early life

Ritchie was born in Bronxville, New York. His father was Alistair E. Ritchie, a longtime Bell Labs scientist and co-author of The Design of Switching Circuits on switching circuit theory. He moved with his family to Summit, New Jersey, as a child, where he graduated from Summit High School.[5]

Career

Ritchie graduated from Harvard University with degrees in physics and applied mathematics. In 1967, he began working at the Bell Labs Computing Sciences Research Center, and in 1968, he received a PhD from Harvard under the supervision of Patrick C. Fischer, his doctoral dissertation being "Program Structure and Computational Complexity".[6]

Ken Thompson (left) and Dennis Ritchie (right)

Ritchie was best known as the creator of the C programming language, a key developer of the Unix operating system, and co-author of the book The C Programming Language, and was the 'R' in K&R (a common reference to the book's authors Kernighan and Ritchie). Ritchie worked together with Ken Thompson, the scientist credited with writing the original Unix; one of Ritchie's most important contributions to Unix was its porting to different machines and platforms.[7]

The C language is widely used today in application, operating system, and embedded system development, and its influence is seen in most modern programming languages. Unix has also been influential, establishing concepts and principles that are now precepts of computing.

Awards

File:Medal lg.jpeg
Thompson (left) and Ritchie (center) receiving the National Medal of Technology from President Clinton in 1999

In 1983, Ritchie and Thompson received the Turing Award for their development of generic operating systems theory and specifically for the implementation of the UNIX operating system. Ritchie's Turing Award lecture was titled "Reflections on Software Research".[8] In 1990, both Ritchie and Thompson received the IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), "for the origination of the UNIX operating system and the C programming language".[9]

In 1997, both Ritchie and Thompson were made Fellows of the Computer History Museum, "for co-creation of the UNIX operating system, and for development of the C programming language."

On April 21, 1999, Thompson and Ritchie jointly received the National Medal of Technology of 1998 from President Bill Clinton for co-inventing the UNIX operating system and the C programming language which, according to the citation for the medal, "led to enormous advances in computer hardware, software, and networking systems and stimulated growth of an entire industry, thereby enhancing American leadership in the Information Age".[10][11]

In 2005, the Industrial Research Institute awarded Ritchie with its Achievement Award in recognition of his contribution to science and technology, and to society generally, with his development of the Unix operating system.[12]

In 2011, Ritchie, along with Thompson, was awarded the Japan Prize for Information and Communications for his work in the development of the Unix operating system.[13]

Death and legacy

Ritchie was found dead on October 12, 2011, at the age of 70 at his home in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, where he lived alone.[1] First news of his death came from his former colleague, Rob Pike.[2][3] The cause and exact time of death have not been disclosed.[14] He had been in frail health for several years following treatment for prostate cancer and heart disease.[1][2][15][16] His death came a week after the death of Steve Jobs but did not receive as much media coverage.[17][18][19] Computer historian Paul E. Ceruzzi said after his death: "Ritchie was under the radar. His name was not a household name at all, but... if you had a microscope and could look in a computer, you'd see his work everywhere inside."[20]

In an interview shortly after Ritchie's death, long time colleague Brian Kernighan said Ritchie never expected C to be so significant.[21] Kernighan reminded readers of how important a role C and UNIX had played in the development of later high-profile projects, like the iPhone.[22][23]

Other testimonials to his influence followed.[24][25][26][27]

The Fedora 16 Linux distribution, which was released about a month after he died, was dedicated to his memory.[28] FreeBSD 9.0, released January 12, 2012 was also dedicated in his memory.[29]

  • Ritchie engaged in conversation in a chalet in the mountains surrounding Salt Lake City at the 1984 Usenix conference.
    Ritchie engaged in conversation in a chalet in the mountains surrounding Salt Lake City at the 1984 Usenix conference.
  • At the same Usenix 1984 conference, Dennis Ritchie is visible in the middle, behind the man wearing a hat.
    At the same Usenix 1984 conference, Dennis Ritchie is visible in the middle, behind the man wearing a hat.

Notable books

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Lohr, Steve (October 12, 2011), "Dennis Ritchie, Programming Trailblazer, Dies at 70", The New York Times, retrieved October 13, 2011, Dennis M. Ritchie, who helped shape the modern digital era by creating software tools that power things as diverse as search engines like Google and smartphones, was found dead on Wednesday at his home in Berkeley Heights, N.J. He was 70. Mr. Ritchie, who lived alone, was in frail health in recent years after treatment for prostate cancer and heart disease, said his brother Bill.
  2. ^ a b c "Unix creator Dennis Ritchie dies aged 70". BBC News. October 13, 2011. Retrieved October 14, 2011. Pioneering computer scientist Dennis Ritchie has died after a long illness. ... The first news of Dr Ritchie's death came via Rob Pike, a former colleague who worked with him at Bell Labs. Mr Ritchie's passing was then confirmed in a statement from Alcatel Lucent which now owns Bell Labs.
  3. ^ a b Rob Pike (October 12, 2011), (untitled post to Google+), retrieved October 14, 2011, I just heard that, after a long illness, Dennis Ritchie (dmr) died at home this weekend. I have no more information.
  4. ^ Campbell-Kelly, Martin (October 13, 2011), "Dennis Ritchie obituary", The Guardian, retrieved October 13, 2011, Dennis MacAlistair Ritchie, computer scientist, born 9 September 1941; died 12 October 2011
  5. ^ Keill, Liz. "Berkeley Heights man wins Japan Prize for inventing UNIX operating system", Independent Press, February 1, 2011. Accessed October 17, 2011. "Ritchie, 69, has lived in Berkeley Heights for 15 years. He was born in Bronxville, New York, grew up in Summit and attended Summit High School before going to Harvard University."
  6. ^ Dennis M. Ritchie at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  7. ^ [Pioneer Programmer Shaped the Evolution of Computers, Wall Street Journal, October 14, 2011, p.A7]
  8. ^ Ritchie, Dennis M. (1987), "1983 Turing Award Lecture: Reflections on Software Research", ACM Turing Award Lectures: The First Twenty Years 1666–1985, ACM Press Anthology Series, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, pp. 163–169 {{citation}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ "IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal Recipients" (PDF). IEEE. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
  10. ^ Ritchie and Thompson [to] Get National Medal of Technology Bell Labs pre-announcement
  11. ^ Ritchie and Thompson Receive National Medal of Technology from President Clinton Bell Labs press release
  12. ^ "Dennis Ritchie, Bell Labs Researcher and Co-Inventor of Unix, Receives 2005 Industrial Research Institute Achievement Award", Alcatel/Lucent Press Release, Nov. 15, 2005, accessed Feb. 8, 2012.
  13. ^ Evangelista, Benny, "Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie win Japan Prize", San Francisco Chronicle, January 25, 2011
  14. ^ Associated Press (October 13, 2011), "Summary Box: Dennis Ritchie, pioneer in computer programming at Bell Labs, dies at 70", The Washington Post, retrieved October 14, 2011, NOT KNOWN: Alcatel-Lucent confirmed his death to The Associated Press but would not disclose the cause of death or when Ritchie died.
  15. ^ Gallagher, Sean (October 13, 2011). "Dennis Ritchie, Father of C and Co-Developer of Unix, Dies". Wired magazine. Retrieved October 13, 2011. mirror
  16. ^ Binstock, Andrew. "Dennis Ritchie, in Memoriam". Dr. Dobb's Journal. Dr. Dobb's Journal. Retrieved October 14, 2011. mirror
  17. ^ Humphrey, Michael (October 14, 2011). "The Inevitable Steve Jobs vs. Dennis Ritchie Discussion". Forbes. Retrieved October 14, 2011.
  18. ^ Mearian, Lucas (October 13, 2011). "Dennis Ritchie and Steve Jobs – quite the juxtaposition". Computer World. Retrieved October 14, 2011.
  19. ^ Jeansoulin, Robert. "Héritiers des sixties, deux innovateurs de l'informatique disparaissent. Deux modèles fort différents". Bulletins Electroniques. ADIT. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
  20. ^ Langer, Emily (October 14, 2011). "Dennis Ritchie, founder of Unix and C, dies at 70". Washington Post. Retrieved November 3, 2011. mirror
  21. ^ Shishir Prasad (November 4, 2011). "No one thought 'C' would become so big: Brian Kernighan". Forbes India. Retrieved November 28, 2011. Q Did Dennis Ritchie or you ever think C would become so popular? [Kernighan] I don't think that at the time Dennis worked on Unix and C anyone thought these would become as big as they did. Unix, at that time, was a research project inside Bell Labs. mirror
  22. ^ "Myths of Steve Jobs". Deccan Herald. November 28, 2011. Retrieved November 28, 2011. Dennis Ritchie, the inventor of the C language and co-inventor of the Unix operating system, died a few days after Steve Jobs. He was far more influential than Jobs. {{cite news}}: line feed character in |quote= at position 134 (help) mirror
  23. ^ Subhajit Datta (November 14, 2011). "The tale of three deeply different technologists". The Hindu. Retrieved November 28, 2011. mirror
  24. ^ David Cardinal (November 2, 2011). "Dennis Ritchie, creator of C, bids "goodbye, world"". Extreme Tech. Retrieved November 28, 2011. The book came off the shelf in service of teaching another generation a simple, elegant way to program that allows the developer to be directly in touch with the innards of the computer. The lowly integer variable—int—has grown in size over the years as computers have grown, but the C language and its sparse, clean, coding style live on. For that we all owe a lot to Dennis Ritchie. mirror
  25. ^ "Dennis Ritchie and John McCarthy: Dennis Ritchie and John McCarthy, machine whisperers, died on October 8th and 24th respectively, aged 70 and 84". The Economist. November 5, 2011. Retrieved November 28, 2011. NOW that digital devices are fashion items, it is easy to forget what really accounts for their near-magical properties. Without the operating systems which tell their different physical bits what to do, and without the languages in which these commands are couched, the latest iSomething would be a pretty but empty receptacle. The gizmos of the digital age owe a part of their numeric souls to Dennis Ritchie and John McCarthy. mirror
  26. ^ "The Strange Birth and Long Life of Unix". Newswise. November 23, 2011. Retrieved November 28, 2011. Four decades ago, Ken Thompson, the late Dennis Ritchie, and others at AT&T's Bell Laboratories developed Unix, which turned out to be one of the most influential pieces of software ever written. Their work on this operating system had to be done on the sly, though, because their employer had recently backed away from operating-systems research. mirror
  27. ^ Shyamanuja Das (November 1, 2011). "The forgotten tech luminaries: The new generation of the digital age owe a part of their numeric souls to Dennis Ritchie and John McCarthy". cybermedia. Retrieved November 28, 2011. UNIX, to the development of which Ritchie greatly contributed, and whose C made it possible it to be ported to other machines, is, even today, in its different avatars, the de-facto OS for anything that is mission critical. Solaris, AIX, HP-UX, Linux—all these are derived from UNIX. mirror
  28. ^ Phoronix. "Red Hat Releases Fedora 16 "Verne"". Retrieved November 8, 2011.
  29. ^ The FreeBSD project. "FreeBSD-9.0 Announcement". Retrieved January 12, 2012.
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