Dennis Ritchie, a
computer czar who wrote the popular C programming language and helped develop
the Unix operating system, has died.
Ritchie, 70, was found
dead on Wednesday at his home in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey.
Ritchie, who lived
alone, was in frail health in recent years after treatment for prostate cancer
and heart disease,.
Ritchie died a month
after his birthday, according to his biography on a Web page of
Alcatel-Lucent’s Bell Labs.
Ritchie joined Bell
Labs in the late 1960s.
Ritchie is best known
for his contributions to computer programming and software. The C programming
language, which he developed in the early 1970s, is still popular. It has gone
through a number of upgrades, and it is commonly used for website development
and other computer tasks.
The Unix operating
software also surged in popularity.
It and its offshoots,
including the open-source Linux, are widely used today, in corporate servers
and even cellphones.
No comments:
Post a Comment