Late Dennis Ritchie: Creator of C Programming Language

AI Thread Summary
Dennis Ritchie, the creator of the C programming language, passed away on October 8th, prompting discussions about his significant contributions to computer science. Many participants expressed their condolences and shared memories of Ritchie's collaborative work, particularly with Ken Thompson, highlighting their seamless partnership. There were some misconceptions regarding Ritchie's involvement in hacking a backdoor into the compiler, which was clarified as a mix-up with Thompson. The conversation also included reflections on Ritchie's character, with colleagues describing him as one of the nicest people to work with. Participants reminisced about the influence of Ritchie's work, particularly the "K&R" book, and engaged in light-hearted polls about the proximity of their copies of the book. Overall, the thread conveyed a deep respect for Ritchie's legacy in the tech community, contrasting it with the more contentious discussions surrounding other tech figures.
Jimmy Snyder
Messages
1,122
Reaction score
22
Dennis Ritchie died on the 8th, but I didn't find out until today. He created the C programming language.

http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2011/10/dennis-ritchie/"
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Physics news on Phys.org
Jimmy sorry for this loss. The tech world creators are getting hit real hard lately.
 
was he the one that hacked the password authentication backdoor into the compiler so that it didn't show in the source code?
 
Proton Soup said:
was he the one that hacked the password authentication backdoor into the compiler so that it didn't show in the source code?

would that have been something like Richard Feynman leaving notes in a safe saying your security system sucks (paraphrase.)
 
Lacy33 said:
would that have been something like Richard Feynman leaving notes in a safe saying your security system sucks (paraphrase.)

ok, i got over my laziness. it was thompson, not ritchie, but apparently I'm not the only one to make that mistake.

http://scienceblogs.com/goodmath/2007/04/strange_loops_dennis_ritchie_a.php
http://cm.bell-labs.com/who/ken/trust.html

also, a blurb from the above about Ritchie:
That brings me to Dennis Ritchie. Our collaboration has been a thing of beauty. In the ten years that we have worked together, I can recall only one case of miscoordination of work. On that occasion, I discovered that we both had written the same 20-line assembly language program. I compared the sources and was astounded to find that they matched character-for-character. The result of our work together has been far greater than the work that we each contributed.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Dennis Ritchie is the Feynman of Computer science.
My wife has colleagues who have worked with him. Years back, I was told by them that Dennis Ritchie is one of the nicest people to ever work with.

RIP Dennis.
 
Sad news indeed.
 
We should start a poll now - how many of PFers can see K&R without moving from the place they sit now?
 
Borek said:
We should start a poll now - how many of PFers can see K&R without moving from the place they sit now?

Good idea and I can see Poland from my back porch too. Give a shout out if you want a version in englishe. And why is Poland so clean!?? Poland has to be the cleanest place on the planet. The camping must be unbelivable.
At one time Poland must have swung through my family's back yard. :smile:
Thanks for all your help.
 
  • #10
Rest well Dennis Ritchie, and thank you for C.
 
  • #11
:frown:
RIP Dennis.

Borek said:
We should start a poll now - how many of PFers can see K&R without moving from the place they sit now?

Mine is about four feet away from me.
 
  • #12
Lacy33 said:
would that have been something like Richard Feynman leaving notes in a safe saying your security system sucks (paraphrase.)
Lacy,

:smile: That's a beauty...

Rhody...
 
  • #13
jhae2.718 said:
Mine is about four feet away from me.

Eight feet here. That's two of us.
 
  • #14
I'm a laggard. Mine is 10 feet from where I sit now. However, at the other office I work out of, it is only 4 feet from where I sit (one copy is enough? No way.)
 
  • #15
One foot away from my outstretched hand.

RIP Dennis.
 
  • #16
My copy of K&R is on the shelf beside me.

I wrote a web browser for IBM mainframes mostly in C, although I usually work in other languages such as IBM's PL/X, PL/I and REXX. I've always been impressed at the neat and compact nature of C, although I frequently made mistakes, mostly caused by having fingers numbered 1 to 10 where Ritchie presumably had fingers 0 to 9 (or even 0 to 011).
 
  • #17
Borek said:
We should start a poll now - how many of PFers can see K&R without moving from the place they sit now?
I put my third copy on permanent loan to my employer's technical library. My first two copies? They walked. One walked with my permission (but it was supposed to come back, which it didn't), the other walked without my permission.


RIP, dmr.
 
  • #18
i have a couple of C books, but no K&R :\
 
  • #19
This is an amazingly clever thread title.
 
  • #20
1MileCrash said:
This is an amazingly clever thread title.
1Mile,

Trust me when I say this, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hello_world_program" and propeller heads get it.

From his other half, Brian Kernigham.
The example program from that book prints "hello, world" (without capital letters or exclamation mark), and was inherited from a 1974 Bell Laboratories internal memorandum by Brian Kernighan, Programming in C: A Tutorial, which contains the first known version:

Rhody...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #21
This is a real shame.


As well, I might add, it is completely and utterly appalling to read about everyone suddenly cursing Steve Jobs and his death. Not on this forum which I'm glad to see.
 
  • #22
R.I.P Dennis Ritchie.
 
Back
Top