C and Unix pioneer Dennis Ritchie reported dead

[eShirl]

"the 70-year-old, who was a founding developer of Unix and known as dmr, died at home over the weekend after a long illness."

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/10/13/dennis_ritchie/

-snip-

"With Bell's Ken Thompson, Ritchie helped develop Unix and got it running on a DEC PDP-11, and released the first edition of the operating system in 1971.

"Two years later Ritchie came up with the C language, building on B from engineers at Bell. C offered the right combination of concise syntax, functionality and detail features necessary to make the language work for programming an operating system. Most of Unix's components were re-written in C, with the kernel published the same year.

"C is now the world's second most popular programming language, according to TIOBE. It paved the way for C++ and Java, while Unix paved the way for many, many operating systems, including BSD and Linux."

-snip-

[Syrinx]

1. I know a lot of people here hate C

But no grave-dancing please.

RIP Dennis Ritchie.

[entropic]

4. Why would anyone hate C?

For its time, it was groundbreaking.

[ladjf]

11. Anyone who hates "C" probably never saw the beauty in it. nt

[backscatter712]

49. I personally enjoyed C.

The joke is that C provides all the expressiveness and power of assembly language with all the readability of assembly language.

But I found that "getting close to the raw iron" was actually quite fun.

You really want to know how a computer works, try writing some code in C, then setting the compiler (most compilers can do this) to output in assembly language, rather than as an executable binary. Make sure you're in debug mode, and optimization is turned off. You can see exactly in the output how C code is translated into assembly language. And once you're in assembly language, if you're masochistic enough to do it yourself, it's just a matter of looking up opcodes in the CPU manual's tables, and you can hand-assemble your program.

[ladjf]

68. I'm so old fashioned that I learned to program in C on UNIX. I wrote

my documents, including letters on the vi editor. I didn't learn to use windows until several years later.

[Retrograde]

66. Do they still run the Obfuscated C Contest?

It's possible to write clear code in C that's comprehensible by both machines and humans, although it seems to be rarely done. Now if you want to start an argument about the relative merits of C, Pascal, C++ and {insert your favorite language} I shall have to ask you to step outside.

[AdHocSolver]

70. One can write well-designed and coded programs in many languages. It is just seldom done.

Having programmed in C, COBOL, and FORTRAN, I have seen well-written code in all three languages. The problem was that most of the code I maintained was poorly designed and written.

It is just as frustrating to try to maintain spaghetti code no matter what language it is written in.

If you want to see some really incomprehensible code, check out Obfuscated Perl Contest, especially something containing a regular expression. It is mind-numbing.

[trumad]

7. Grave Dancing ?

Because someone doesn't like his computer program?

That would be weird grave dancing.

[meegbear]

9. Really?

I can see the iTards fanboys not liking it, not normal developers know it's worth.

[EnviroBat]

24. Funny that you say that given that most Mac and iPhone applications

are written in Objective C.

[Spider Jerusalem]

59. And that OS-X and iOS are derivatives of BSD...which is itself derived from Unix.

[DaveJ]

16. No, but I do hate C++

Fortunately, the geniuses at Microsoft fixed and evolved C++ with C#, which is shear pleasure to use. One would have to be a self-masochist to continue using C++ when they have C# as an option. My guess is that Ritchie had no love of C++ (could be wrong).

[hootinholler]

21. I suggesst you research your history of C#

The 'geniuses' at microsoft did nothing but co-opt and then fuck things up from the beginning and continued to the present.

[DaveJ]

31. I'm very satisfied with C#

I guess people are divided into factions (ridiculing one another's efforts) but fortunately I'm too busy creating productive applications to spend time on that.

I didn't mean to belittle the efforts of whoever created C++. I'm just glad it evolved into something better.

Perhaps C++ is fine in Linux environments. For windows development C# is an improvement.

[hootinholler]

37. No faction here. I just wanted to point out that C# is the result of a lawsuit

That Microsoft lost. See embrace and extend as a strategy.

One result of the browser war litigation is that M$ version of 'java' was renamed to C#.

BTW, Java was not based in C or C++. It did include a number of good ideas from that world and left a number of bad ideas behind.

[DaveJ]

45. What tech company doesn't have lawsuits

In fact, every company can bet on getting sued after revenues start to exceed a few million.

I read and Embrace, Extend, Extinguish. It's an attempt to dominate the market. Same as Google, Facebook, and Apple. Pretty much what every company wants to do.

I understand that saying C# is an 'evolution' of C++ might not have been the best use of words, C# is sort of a combination of C++ and Java, an improvement (evolution) over C++ in the MS world.

[hootinholler]

47. ROFL

Once again I suggest you take some time to learn recent history.

Or continue to live in fantasy.

Your choice.

[DaveJ]

48. removed - not worth it

-

[hootinholler]

56. I thought you were too busy to learn the history?

Creating productive applications or something?

I can only guess you are since you removed what you had said in the time it took me to notice you said something and click reply.

C# is a direct result of Microsoft's attempt to embrace, extend and extinguish Java. Like they did with the C libraries, and later the C++ libraries. I watched it happen to those languages and watched the attempt with Java. They couldn't do it via a library strategy since most of what OS specific libraries did for C and C++ were implemented in a VM that has a published standard. They didn't implement the standard. They got sued, they lost, and since the name Java was disallowed for their non conforming VM that only ran under windows, they renamed it C# and presented it as their own innovation.

C# is the result of an attempted rip-off of Java, not some evolutionary product or natural progression. For anyone to claim otherwise ignores reality.

[DaveJ]

63. That is very interesting

I'm not sure how to respond to the fact that MS lost a lawsuit just like other companies lose lawsuits all the time. It's part of business.

But thanks, that is very fascinating.

Yes my goal is to get work done. I love to code, and my reward is in the product I create.

I am going to use the best tool for the job, not whatever is the most pure.

[backscatter712]

55. Java does have a lot of C-isms.

It's syntax has a lot in common with C and C++, though you're right - it's its own language.

[hootinholler]

61. Yes it does...

For good reason. The syntax was well known and robust.

It took me about a year to understand that not having pointers was a good thing ;) I jumped mainly from C to Java, which I understand is easier than going from C++ to Java.

[backscatter712]

54. Windows programming in C++ is painful.

Though I blame Microsoft's coding rather than C++ itself.

They kept using Hungarian notation, and their code was all sorts of ugly.

C# and .NET essentially lampshaded over the ugly coding of the C++ layers and APIs to provide an development environment that's usable by humans.

Try writing some GTK code, or try Qt - much nicer coding.

Though still, the future is in high level coding - Ruby, Python on the Unix/Linux side, .NET on the Windows side - because we're no longer in an environment where we have to scrounge for every computing cycle - we've got lots of computing horsepower, so economically, it's a better decision to sacrifice efficiency on the computing side, and conserve cycles of the programmers - make it easier for programmers, make them have to write fewer lines of code, using languages that let the computer handle things like memory management.

You'll still see C++ used to code video games - there, you'll always be scrounging for CPU cycles and optimizing for performance - you can't sling enough polygons or run your shaders fast enough, so the programmers will always be writing to the bare metal.

[DaveJ]

60. I'm just sticking with what works for me

My coding went from Basic on Apple II, to Machine, to Assembly, to C, to C++ (hated it), then to C#. I'm currently using Sharepoint and SSAS for applications that do not require much coding, but still something that very few people comprehend.

I will continue to use C# and I do not think development will ever be 100% point and click. Some people think it will. But they do not realize the hundreds of thousands of details that need to be worked out in an application, which requires low level code.

I created a "video game constuction kit" on the Apple II when I was 16. It was a great program. I wanted to sell it to Electronic Arts but the Apple IIs popularity started to fade then. I guess that is why I stick to popular platforms now.

Maybe I'm wrong about this, but I thoght video games use C++ more for cross platform compatibility. C# really should be as fast as C++, in theory.

C is good for firmware development which I also did in my spare time. I'd like to do that for a living too. The tech world would be just as good, if not better, if everyone just used C.

[hootinholler]

64. Um, windows programming is painful

Without regard to the language.

If you need C or C++ code to work on anything non-windows also it's even more painful.

[backscatter712]

50. C++ has a lot of warts, but it too has its beauty.

It has the conundrum of having to remain 99+% (it's not 100%) bug-for-bug compatible with C, while adding more modern programming features like objects, polymorphism, higher-level data structures, that sort of thing. That forces some ... design compromises ...

You have to spend some time doing things like putting together code to handle operators for your objects, do constructors & destructors, etc. but once that's all put together, and you can start writing on a higher level, that's where it becomes beautiful.

OTOH, C++ is still a language that lets you dig down to your machine's bare metal if you want, and most other languages have far more difficulty with that.

But yeah, I remember a lot of having to write a bunch of code that I wouldn't have had to write using a higher level language (most recently, Ruby).

And keep in mind that when you're using C#, Java, or any of dozens of other more modern languages, you're using syntax that was first in C and C++.

[DaveJ]

67. I think the problem is that I never needed OOP

I never had a job or application that required me to use OOP. I get the sense OOP is more useful in team environments, and unfortunately I never got to work in a team. I'm sure I'm taking advantage of OOP now without noticing it though. I mean, I created a little Android app using Java, I'm sure I must have used OOP but had no idea how or why.

C++ was a necessary step that led to higher level development environments, and for that I'm grateful. It was just a pain to deal with. And digging into the memory is always fun, if you have a chance to do it.

I think I have a different mindset than other programmers. I have both a computer science degree and a media arts degree. So I program in order to create. I have a vision for what I want and I just want it done, asap. So I am not totally fascinated by the language itself. I'd love to work in a team environment someday, I'm old but I'm not giving up hope that in some alternate fantasy world, I might be able to work with other developers. It's probably just a dream though, I'm not like them.

[AdHocSolver]

71. C++ added several layers of complexity to the design and coding of good software.

In several years of programming, I met few programmers who could develop a C program that was well-designed, used memory sparingly, ran fast, and was relatively "easy" to debug and maintain.

In fact, I met few programmers who could develop software with these characteristics in any language.

The concept behind C++ was that highly experienced and competent programmers would develop an application-specific high-level language in C++ which less experienced programmers would then use to develop the actual application.

Unfortunately, this "ideal" state of affairs never occurred in the real world. C and C++ were indiscriminately mixed in large programs that made them practically impossible to debug. It was difficult enough to properly design a program in C. Adding the complexity of developing code in C++ while maintaining the object-oriented requirements in that language made programming an unpleasant experience

Most managers of software did not come from the ranks of experienced programmers, and seldom gave the experienced programmers the ability to influence software development and maintenance.

I loved programming in C. I never liked C++.

[Trekologer]

2. I had the opportunity to meet him in the mid-90s

He was demonstrating the Inferno operating system at Bell Labs in Murray Hill, NJ.

It is hard to imagine what computing would be like today without Unix and C.

[HughBeaumont]

3. A real RIP I can get behind.

Opened a lot of doors. Thanks.

[MgtPA]

5. Goodbye, world... :-(

[alcibiades_mystery]

6. A far more important figure in computer history than others I might mention

I don't expect the same profuse paeans to the wonders of innovation, however.

[vets74]

8. R.I.P. Dennis. I knew Dennis -- he was Bell Labs when I worked for Long Lines.

Sadly, we were on the Big Blue side of things. Maintained the country's database for long distance phone lines.

We only got to see the Labs guys when we went down to investigate using their gear for faster data transmission. We'd got stuck with IBM Model 22s and 25s.

My deal was compression algorithms. Fit right in with his group's code work. They were very good at using limited memory.

And c was one helluvan upgrade from writing code in assembler.

Coding errors are generated about proportional to the number of lines of code you write. So c reduced low level errors significantly.

Imagine doing code for an assembler language web page....

[originalpckelly]

10. Our whole world is truly better for the work that he did.

He will be missed. :-(

[GliderGuider]

13. Wrong place, sorry

[Evasporque]

12. I compiled this...when I was dabbling...some years ago...

/* Hello World program */

#include<stdio.h>

main()
{
printf("Hello World");


}

[GliderGuider]

15. How about this paraphrase?

#include<stdio.h>

main()
{
printf("Goodbye World");
}

[belcffub]

40. little more

#include<stdio.h>
main() { printf("Goodbye, World"); }

[Retrograde]

65. A fitting epitaph (n/t)

[GliderGuider]

14. RIP, dmr! Your language was a thing of exquisite elegance and beauty.

I spent 20 years of my life writing packet processing and system control software in C for the datacomm industry. C hit the sweet spot, walking the fine line between low-level control and high-level comprehensibility. It was a piece of fucking magic.

Dennis, I wish you light and love on your journey through Bardo. If you see Steve, give him a high five from all us mystic nerds.

[hootinholler]

17. Sad news.

I still have a well worn copy of Kernigan and Ritchie C around here somewhere. I have to doubt that C is the second most popular language. C++ possibly could be, but in general C is now only used in realtime programming (which is where my tech roots lie).

As to paving the way for *nix operating systems, Unix was locked down by AT&T with outrageous licensing that UC Berkley didn't want to pay. So the students wrote a clean room version that became BSD which saw the birth of the open source movement and was still the gold standard in secured unix implementations as few as 5 years ago. It may still be, I haven't checked lately.

His real contribution was the OS and a lot of the notions that went into it, like chainable programs via 'piped' stdin and stdout. User groups and permissions. Cron and other service daemons. The language was simply a tool to make the OS happen. Without Unix, there would be no intertubes, well, at a minimum, the intertubes would likely operate very differently.

[Frank Coffin]

18. RIP Ritchie

His book led to my love of UNIX/Linux.

Even though we are dominated by Windows.

[DaveJ]

19. There's still room (and market demand) for more programmers

That is if you want to start using Windows anytime soon. All their sophisticated development tools are free.

[lapfog_1]

26. Don't worry too much

Windows is now more "NT" than bad old Windows. NT was created by the team from Dec (hired in mass by M$) that did Vax/VMS... VMS was inspired by... Unix (which itself was inspired by Multics, another creation of Dennis Ritchie).

His OS will live on for many more decades to come.

[lapfog_1]

27. nerd brownie points...

Before there was "C", there was "B" (anybody besides me ever write "B" programs?)

What would the "next" language in the sequence be?

[hootinholler]

28. IIRC, P

But I never wrote B, I was a PL/I geek at the time.

[lapfog_1]

36. Ding Ding Ding.

yup... good old BCPL.

And, yes, I am getting old.

[backscatter712]

30. "P"?

Now that's old-school!

[backscatter712]

52. Dammit! Beaten!

[Cruzan]

20. K & R

Where I learned C:

[hootinholler]

22. Unfortunately people around here will missinterpret K&R

:rofl:

[Canuckistanian]

53. I got that!

When I took C programming in school, it was called "K&R" C Language.

[hootinholler]

58. That's because K&R C was nonconforming to the C standard.

Once the standard was created ;)

[backscatter712]

62. Let me fix my program...

#include <stdio.h>

int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
printf("RIP, Dennis Ritchie.\n");
return 0;
}

[dragonlady]

23. We have a copy of that!

It looks just as well used, too, after all the time dragongentleman spent studying it. He always liked C better than the other languages.

[backscatter712]

29. I've got my copy of the White Book on my shelf!

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
printf("RIP, Dennis Ritchie.\n");
return 0;
}

[octothorpe]

33. pffff... I could have done that in 50 lines of java...

[hootinholler]

39. Here ya go

package com.hootinholler.foo;

public class ByeBye {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        System.out.print("RIP, Dennis Ritchie.\n");
    }
}

[octothorpe]

41. :P

[octothorpe]

32. heh...

[AdHocSolver]

69. I learned C from K and R back in the early 1980's.

Still have my copy and I bought the second addition as well.

It was not only a good description of the C language, but it was a great tutorial for learning good programming practices.

RIP Dennis Ritchie!

[lapfog_1]

25. I presented a paper at an ACM conference in 1989

One of the first papers on RAID...

Sitting in the front row and taking furious notes was Dennis Ritchie...

Me, lecturing about Unix and High Performance File Systems and RAID... to Dennis Ritchie.

I just about crapped myself.

That's like giving a lecture on Star Wars planetary environments to George Lucas.

Or the ergonomics of the Ipad to Steve Jobs.

We are all getting so much older now.

RIP Mr. Ricthie. I've made a career out of climbing onto the shoulders of giants... you were one of the biggest.

[uponit7771]

42. Lucky you, would've loved to hear your lecture.

[Major Hogwash]

34. Is he really dead?

Or is he just stuck in an infinite "go to" loop?

[hootinholler]

38. You're right! He might just be hung

Someone SIGHUP him!

[blogslut]

35. Rest in Peace, dear Sir.

You did good.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

43. I owe jmr big time

I'm currently a C++ programmer. I guess I'm standing on JMR's shoulders (among others).

RIP

:hi:

[Blue_Tires]

44. I remember C++ that first semester I was actually a CSC major

I wasn't a CSC major anymore after that first programming class...

[Xithras]

46. Goodbye dmr.

/*I heard about this last night, and have a half-mast flag sitting on my desk today.
* It's not an understatement for me to say that my entire career has been built on
* the inventions of this man. In fact, it's not an understatement to say that
* half the computer industry is built on his inventions. Though he was largely
* unknown outside of tech circles, within those circles he was a giant.
*/

#include<stdio.h>

main()
{
printf("Goodbye dmr, and thank for for your brilliant contributions.");
}

[L0oniX]

51. Big thank you for BSD and C.

[saras]

57. I wondered for a while why people on DU were so fond of that K&R book when they weren't programmers