[Beijing website production] Collection of 19 programming masters

There are many excellent programmers in the world, and they will not all appear in this book. Therefore, this is the first book in a series of interviews with outstanding contemporary programmers. ( Beijing website production )

　　Charles Simonyi

Charles Simonyi was born in Budapest, Hungary, on September 10, 1948. When he was in high school, Charles began to contact with computers and programming. His father arranged him to work as an assistant for an engineer engaged in computer work. At that time, computers were few in Hungary.

In 1966, Charles graduated from high school and completed his first compiler. With his experience in developing compilers, he got a position at A/S Regnecentralen in Copenhagen, Denmark. In 1968, Charles left Denmark to study at the University of California, Berkeley. He received his bachelor's degree in science in 1972 and a doctor's degree from Stanford University in 1977.

Simonyi has successively worked in the Computer Center of the University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley Computer Company, ILLIAC 4 Project and Xerox PARC. He has been working for Microsoft since 1981. At Xerox, Charles developed the Bravo and Bravo X programs for the Alto PC. At Microsoft, Charles formed an application software team and led the development of popular applications such as Multiplan, Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. In almost every field of the microcomputer world, Charles Simonyi has been branded with his brand, either through his own works or by influencing the people he works with. He is modest and lively, with a smile on his face, and can comment on almost any topic, whether related to computers or not.

For the later situation of Simonyi, please refer to Charles Simonyi, the life after Programmers at Work.

　　Butler Lampson

Butler Lampson is currently a senior engineer in the System Research Center of Digital Equipment Corporation (hereinafter referred to as DEC) in Palo Alto, California. He was an associate professor of computer science at the University of California, Berkeley, the founder of Berkeley Computer Company, and a senior researcher of Xerox PARC Computer Science Laboratory.

Lampson is one of the most respected experts in the industry. He has made great achievements in many computer design and research fields. He has developed hardware systems, such as Ethernet LAN and Alto, Dorado personal computers; Operating system, such as SDS 940 and Alto; Programming languages, such as LISP and Mesa; Application programs, such as Bravo editor and Star office system; There are also network servers, such as Dover printers and Grapevine mail systems.

　　John Warnock

John Warnock was born in 1940, grew up in Utah, studied at the University of Utah, and received a bachelor's and master's degree in mathematics, as well as a doctorate in computer science. In 1968, Dave Evans set up a famous research and development team at the University of Utah to study interactive design and computer graphics. At this time, Warnock just transferred to computer science. After receiving his doctor's degree in computer science, Warnock entered a company in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and tried to be an entrepreneur for a period of time. Later, he joined Computer Sciences of Canada and worked in Toronto. Later, he went to Washington, D.C., to work at Goddard Space Flight Center.

In 1972, Warnock moved to California and joined Dave Evans and Ivan Sutherland in working on the Illiac IV supercomputer, NASA space flight simulator and aircraft simulator. In 1978, Warnock joined Xerox PARC and worked in the computer science laboratory for four years. During his work at PARC, Warnock was committed to improving the typesetting effect of computer grayscale imaging.

In 1982, Dr. John E. Warnock and Dr. Charles M. Geshchke jointly founded Adobe Systems to develop software for mixed typesetting text and graphics, whose output is device independent. They worked together to develop the first product PostScript of Adobe Systems.

When you enter the office building, you will see the logo of Adobe at a glance. This building is located next to Embarcadero Avenue in Palo Alto, which is surrounded by many high-tech enterprises. The company logo is very large and glittering, which shows the great success of Warnock's company recently. Like many others, Warnock left Xerox PARC with his own ideas and turned them into a language (PostScript) and a company (Adobe Systems) in the real world.

　　Gary Kildall

As the founder and chairman of the Board of Directors of Digital Research Institute (DRI), Gary A. Kildall developed the first microcomputer operating system from 1972 to 1973. He called that system CP/M (control program/monitor program) operating system, which later became the first product of his company. In addition, he designed the DRLogo programming language for IBM personal computers and developed PL/1, one of the earliest high-level computer languages on microcomputers.

Gary Kildall was born in Seattle on May 19, 1942. He received his doctorate in computer science from the University of Washington in 1972. He then joined the Navy and taught computer science at the U.S. Naval Graduate School in Monterey, California. After retiring from the navy, he continued to coach there.

Kildall founded a new company called Activenture in 1984 (recently renamed KnowledgeSet) to explore the potential of the CD publishing industry. In 1985, Activenture announced that it would publish a CD-ROM version of Gloria Multimedia Encyclopedia. Kildall still serves as the chairman of the board of directors of the Digital Institute while serving as the president of KnowledgeSet.

　　Bill Gates

As the CEO of Microsoft, William H. (Bill) Gates is regarded as a powerful driver in the field of personal computing and office automation. Bill Gates began his career in computer software when he was young. When Gates and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen were still in high school in Seattle, Washington, they began to work as programming consultants. In 1974, when Gates was an undergraduate at Harvard University, he worked with Allen to develop a BASIC programming language for the first commercial microcomputer MITS Altair. After the successful completion of that project, the two founded Microsoft to develop and sell software for the emerging microcomputer market.

Microsoft has set standards for the software industry in programming languages, operating systems and application software. Gates put forward the vision of new product innovation and technology development for Microsoft. When developing new products, he will personally guide the technical team and invest time in reviewing and improving the software sold by Microsoft.

　　John Page

John Page was born in London, England, on September 21, 1944. He began to use computers when he was a teenager, and has continued to work in the computer field for more than 20 years.

In 1970, John Page joined HP. He has worked for HP in London, Geneva and other parts of Europe for more than four years in technical support. In 1974, he moved to Cupertino, California, the headquarters of HP, and was responsible for managing the global technical support of HP 3000 computers. Later, he moved into the field of software research and development and developed the Image database management system. While working at HP, Page studied AI at Stanford University and completed his postgraduate work in computer science. In 1980, Page left HP and founded Software Publishing Corporation (SPC) together with Fred Gibbons and Janelle Bedke. Page developed the first product of the software publishing company, later PFS: FILE, in his garage. Now there are more than six kinds of software in PFS series, covering all aspects of information management. John Page is the vice president in charge of research and development of the software publishing company.

John Page is a slender, healthy and slightly childish person. He has soft eyes, a friendly smile, and a slight British accent. When we met, he was wearing an unbuttoned blue shirt and a pair of gray slacks. Page took me through the comfortable rosewood beam and column office of the software publishing company with California style and into a large empty conference room. There, Page thought and analyzed his practices and experiences in programming and management software companies in a relaxed state.

　　C. Wayne Ratliff

From 1969 to 1982, C Wayne Ratliff works for Martin Marietta and has held a series of positions in engineering and management. When the "Pirate" spacecraft landed on Mars in 1976, he was a member of the "Pirate" flight team of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States) and wrote the data management system MFILE for the "Pirate" landing support software.

He started writing a program called Vulcan (Volcano) in 1978 and promoted it himself from 1979 to 1980. In the second half of 1980, he reached a marketing agreement with Ashton Tate and renamed Vulcan product dBASE II. In the middle of 1983, Ashton Tate purchased the technology and copyright of dBASE II, and Ratliff joined Ashton Tate as the vice president of new technology. Ratliff is the project manager of dBASE III, as well as the designer and chief programmer.

Ratliff was born in Trenton, Ohio, and grew up in several towns in Ohio and Germany. He now lives in the Los Angeles area.

　　Dan Bricklin

Dan Bricklin, a Philadelphia native, was born on July 16, 1951. In 1973, he graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and computer science. After graduation, he successively worked in Digital Equipment Company (DEC) and Fas Fax Company, engaged in programming, and then entered Harvard Business School. During his stay at Harvard, he designed a spreadsheet program based on the expertise and suggestions of his classmates and professors.

In 1978, when he was still at Harvard University, he worked with Bob Frankston, an old classmate of MIT, to develop a practical version of this program. This was later VisiCalc. They founded a company called Software Arts, which was registered in January 1979. In April of the same year, they signed a contract with Personal Software, which is responsible for the market operation of VisiCalc. (Personal Software was later renamed VisiCorp.) News about VisiCalc soon became overwhelming. By May 1981, the sales volume of VisiCalc had exceeded 100000 sets. In 1983, the cumulative sales exceeded 500000 sets. The success of Software Arts lasted until 1984. Later, in order to fight for the relevant rights of VisiCalc, they fell into a protracted lawsuit with VisiCorp.

In May 1985, Dan Bricklin left Software Arts and joined Lotus as a consultant for a short time. Then Dan Bricklin founded Software Garden, his new company, which was officially incorporated in November 1985. The first product launched by the company is called "Dan Bricklin demo program".

　　Bob Frankston

Bob Frankston, 36, has been programming for more than 20 years. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. As early as in his youth, he had a strong interest in electronic technology and computers. When he was studying at MIT, he further strengthened his research in these fields. In 1970, he obtained two bachelor's degrees from MIT, one is a bachelor of mathematics, and the other is a bachelor of electronic engineering and computer science. He received two other degrees from MIT in 1974, one is a bachelor's degree in engineering, the other is a master's degree in electrical engineering and computer science. When he was at MIT, he met Dan Bricklin and they became friends.

Bricklin came up with the idea of electronic report when he was at Harvard Business School, so he asked Bob Frankston to help develop a workable version. Bob Frankston will program in his small attic whenever he has time, no matter day or night, and finally developed a software version of electronic report based on Bricklin's idea. Later, they established Software Arts Company and worked together to develop their first product, VisiCalc, in 1979. In the spring of 1985, the software art company was dissolved because of a protracted lawsuit with VisiCorp (formerly Personal Software, later Paladin). Frankston joined Lotus Development Corporation and became the chief scientist of the information service department.

　　Jonathan Sachs

Jonathan Sachs was born in 1947 and grew up in New England on the east coast of the United States. He received a bachelor's degree in mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Sachs has studied and worked at MIT for 14 years. As a programmer, he has extensive programming experience: he has worked in the Space Research Center, the Cognitive Information Processing Group and the Biomedical Engineering Center. While working for the Biomedical Engineering Center, he developed the STOIC (stack oriented interactive compiler) programming language. In the mid-1970s, Sachs left MIT and came to Data General to manage the development of an operating system. Then he co founded Central Data Systems, a company famous for its database products. Jonathan Sachs is credited with the development of Lotus 1-2-3 electronic report software, which has achieved extraordinary success. In 1981, Sachs and Mitch Kapor developed and sold Sachs' electronic report program. In April 1982, Lotus software development company with only eight employees was founded. On January 26, 1983, Lotus began to deliver Lotus 1-2-3 software for IBM PC. On April 26 of the same year, Lotus 1-2-3 software jumped to the top of the Softsel bestseller list for the first time, and has remained high ever since. It is also the first program to replace VisiCalc. In 1984, Sachs left Lotus software development company and established its own company.

　　Ray Ozzie

Ray Ozzie was born on November 20, 1955 and grew up in Park Ridge, a suburb of Chicago. He studied computer science at the University of Illinois at Champaign. In school, he developed PLATO (Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operation), a computer-assisted education system connected to nearly 1000 terminals around the world. ( High end website construction )

After graduating from college in 1978, Ozzie joined Data General, a small computer company near Boston, and worked under Jonathan Sachs to develop a small business system. After leaving Data General, Ozzie entered the microcomputer and software world of VisiCalc founder Software Arts. After working in Software Arts for one and a half years, Ozzie left her job and joined Lotus to work with Jonathan Sachs and Mitch Kapor. He was involved in the development of Symphony there, and later became the project leader. After Symphony was completed, Ray Ozzie founded his own company, Iris Associates, and signed a contract with Lotus to develop software.

At present, Ray lives in the countryside outside Boston with his wife Dawna Bousquet and their son Neil.

　　Peter Roizen

As a native of California, Peter Roizen grew up in Palo Alto. He studied at the University of California, Berkeley, and received a bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1967. His first job after graduation was as a programmer, although he had hardly touched programming before. After leaving Berkeley, Roizen spent two years in Montreal and Toronto, then went to Europe and worked as a programmer at the World Health Organization for seven years. He later returned to the United States and worked for the World Bank in Washington, D.C. In 1980, Roizen founded his own company to promote and sell his spreadsheet program, T/Maker. It was developed in his spare time when he worked at the World Bank. In 1985, Roizen moved his small company from Washington, D.C. to the San Francisco Bay Area. Roizen is 39 years old, married, and has a five-year-old son. He lives in Los Gatos, California.

　　Bob Carr

As the chief scientist of Ashton Tate, Robert Carr, 29, is responsible for the research of new products and technologies. As one of the pioneers in the field of integrated software, Carr is the designer and main developer of Framework software and its subsequent product Framework II software.

Prior to that, Carr served as the chairman of Forefront. In July 1983, Carr co founded Forefront in order to complete the framework software development work he started 15 months ago. Ashton Tate agreed to acquire the market development right of Framework software by means of capital injection to Forefront. In July 1985, Ashton Tate Company acquired Forefront Company.

Before developing the Framework software and co creating Forefront, Carr participated in the development of Context MBA software, one of the earliest integrated software packages, as its program development consultant. Prior to this, Carr was engaged in the development of Xerox Star and Smalltalk's predecessor products at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center. He holds a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in computer science from Stanford University.

　　Jef Raskin

Jef Raskin, initiator of Macintosh project of Apple Computer Company, is versatile. He served as the conductor of the small San Francisco opera troupe; He holds several patents in the fields of packaging design, aircraft structure and electronics. He is also an artist, whose works have been exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Los Angeles Museum of Art. He is currently the CEO of Information Appliance Inc. Raskin was born in New York City in 1943. In his words, he is almost the same age as a digital computer.

At the State University of New York at Stony Brook, he majored in mathematics, physics, philosophy and music. During his school years, he won scholarships for many times and was supported by the National Science Foundation of the United States. After five years of study, he graduated from university and received a bachelor's degree in philosophy. He then earned a master's degree in computer science from Pennsylvania State University and later became a professor of visual arts at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). He has taught at the University of California San Diego for five years, and also served as Third College (see //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Thurgood Marshall College) Director of Computer Center.

Later, he resolutely resigned from the San Diego campus - he didn't want to say much about why he left. Later, he became a professional musician, engaged in teaching and conducting. When the 8080 microprocessor came out, Raskin founded Bannister&Crun to take advantage of this new technology. The company has found a profitable market segment to write manuals and software for Heath, Apple, National Semiconductor and other companies.

In 1978, he joined Apple Computer as the No. 31 employee and served as the distribution manager. Later, he served as the senior system manager and formed a team to create Macintosh. In 1982, he left Apple to teach at the Dansk Datamatik Institute, and then returned to Silicon Valley to establish an information equipment company.

　　Andy Hertzfeld

Andy Hertzfeld was born on April 6, 1953 and grew up in the western suburbs of Philadelphia. Hertzfeld began to be fascinated by computers when he was in high school. One of the programs he wrote at that time was the dating program for the school dance. After graduating from high school, he entered Brown University to study physics, mathematics and computer science, and obtained a degree in computer science in 1975. In 1979, Hertzfeld received a master's degree in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley. After graduating from graduate school, Hertzfeld joined Apple Computer Company and engaged in the development of Silentype printer, Apple III operating system and other products. In February 1981, he joined the Macintosh development team as the second programmer, participated in project development, and became the main developer of the Macintosh operating system. Recently, Hertzfeld left Apple and started to work alone. He later developed Switcher on Macintosh, and a low-cost, high-resolution digitizer called ThunderScan.

　　Toru Iwatani

Iwatani, the game designer, was born on January 25, 1955 in Muhei District, Tokyo, Japan. He is self-taught in computer, visual arts or graphic design, and has not received formal training. In 1977, Iwatani, 22, joined NAMCO LIMITED, a computer software company in Tokyo that produces video games. After entering the company, Iwatani finally found a suitable position, game design. Iwatani worked with four other people to complete the production of Pac Man (Pac Man game) after one year and five months of development from conception to finished product.

The game was first released in Japan and was a great success. After exporting to Europe and America, it also captured a large number of players. After completing Pac Man, Iwatani designed many games, including his favorite Libble Rabbit. Recently, Iwatani began to participate more in the company management of Nanmenggong.

　　Scott Kim

Scott Kim, a native of Los Angeles, was born on October 27, 1955. He studied mathematics, computer science and music at Stanford University, and received a bachelor's degree in music in 1977. In 1975, after learning the course of graphic design, Kim began to engage in his work of "inversion" - Kim used the word "inversion" to describe his interpretation of the art of writing. Writing can be seen from many different directions, similar to palindrome and puzzles. In 1981, Scott Kim published Inversion. Many outstanding people in the computer industry have made contributions to this book. The preface was written by Douglas Hofstadter, a professor and friend of Kim. John Warnock helps program images. Donald Knuth and David Fuchs helped with typesetting, and Jef Raskin wrote a "postscript". Kim also recently developed a "fourth party software" used in conjunction with this section, the "inversion" software used on Apple Macintosh computers. This software runs on top of MacPaint software and includes many exercises, tricks and games for creating "Invert".

Kim applied his familiar knowledge of graphic design and font to his work in computer science. At present, he is working on a new user interface design method, which is the subject of his doctoral degree at Stanford University. As early as when he was an undergraduate, Kim studied as a volunteer consultant at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center. He also worked in information appliances in Palo Alto. In addition, he has his own company, LOOK TWICE.

　　Jaron Lanier

Dan Bricklin, a Philadelphia native, was born on July 16, 1951. In 1973, he graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and computer science. After graduation, he successively worked in Digital Equipment Company (DEC) and Fas Fax Company, engaged in programming, and then entered Harvard Business School. During his stay at Harvard, he designed a spreadsheet program based on the expertise and suggestions of his classmates and professors.

In 1978, when he was still at Harvard University, he worked with Bob Frankston, an old classmate of MIT, to develop a practical version of this program. This was later VisiCalc. They founded a company called Software Arts, which was registered in January 1979. In April of the same year, they signed a contract with Personal Software, which is responsible for the market operation of VisiCalc. (Personal Software was later renamed VisiCorp.) News about VisiCalc soon became overwhelming. By May 1981, the sales volume of VisiCalc had exceeded 100000 sets. In 1983, the cumulative sales exceeded 500000 sets. The success of Software Arts lasted until 1984. Later, in order to fight for the relevant rights of VisiCalc, they fell into a protracted lawsuit with VisiCorp.

In May 1985, Dan Bricklin left Software Arts and joined Lotus as a consultant for a short time. Then Dan Bricklin founded Software Garden, his new company, which was officially incorporated in November 1985. The first product launched by the company is called "Dan Bricklin's demo program".

　　Michael Hawley

Droid Works (Robot Works) is under the control of Lucas Pictures to undertake the significant task of digitizing the film production process. As one of the digital audio programmers, Michael Hawley participated in the software development of SoundDroid. This software can be seen as a full digital audio studio in a box. It can store, record, edit and mix sounds, and of course, it can also play sounds instantly.

Hawley is 24 years old. He grew up in New Providence, a suburb of New York City, where he became familiar with computers and programming. Throughout his high school and college years, he worked in Bell Laboratories in nearby Murray Hill. When he cultivated his interest in computer in Bell Labs, he also studied music and piano at Yale University, and obtained a double degree in music and computer science in 1983. Shortly after graduation, he went to IRCAM (Institute of Acoustics/Music Collaboration) in Paris as a visiting researcher of Bell Laboratories. While in Paris, he developed a prototype user interface for computer music applications, and participated in the first world premiere of a sonata for two pianos and electronic music in the IRCAM concert series. After leaving IRCAM, Hawley moved westward and joined Droid Works in Marin County, California.

When I entered the building where the Droid Works office is located, I saw the staff of lighting, photographic equipment and audio equipment shuttling around. This first tells me that Droid Works belongs to the film entertainment industry rather than the traditional software and computer industry.