计算机界的先驱们

我要怀着崇敬的心情，写下这些人的介绍，由于自己浅薄的见识，并没有机会去接触所有大家的经历与光辉的历史，所以这篇文章是持续更新的，希望，我不要露掉任何一个大家，所有的信息都是我从网上或书上收集到的！（排名不分先后，只是我看到他的经历的早晚），幸运的是，我们可以读到他们的书：

• Edsger Wybe Dijkstra,这是我最崇敬的一位计算机界的科学家，虽然我对他的了解仅限于他在操作系统中，数据结构，编译器中所提出的各种概念与算法，但我对他的崇敬之情已经如滔滔江水，在我眼里，他是一个有着独立人格，独立思想的计算机界的先驱，如今他已经去世，但我想他永远活在了我的心中，别的不说了，转贴一篇Grady Booch对Dijkstra的介绍吧：

> Professor Edsger Wybe Dijkstra, a noted pioneer of the science and
> industry of computing, died after a long struggle with cancer on 6
> August 2002 at his home in Nuenen, the Netherlands.
>
> Dijkstra was born in 1930 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, the son of a
> chemist father and a mathematician mother. He graduated from the
> Gymnasium Erasmianum in Rotterdam and obtained degrees in mathematics
> and theoretical physics from the University of Leyden and a Ph.D. in
> computing science from the University of Amsterdam. He worked as a
> programmer at the Mathematisch Centrum, Amsterdam, 1952-62; was
> professor of mathematics, Eindhoven University of Technology,
> 1962-1984; and was a Burroughs Corporation research fellow, 1973-1984.
> He held the Schlumberger Centennial Chair in Computing Sciences at the
> University of Texas at Austin, 1984-1999, and retired as Professor
> Emeritus in 1999.
>
> Dijkstra is survived by his wife of over forty years, Maria (Ria) C.
> Dijkstra Debets, by three children, Marcus J., Femke E., and computer
> scientist Rutger M. Dijkstra, and by two grandchildren.
>
> Dijkstra was the 1972 recipient of the ACM Turing Award, often viewed
> as the Nobel Prize for computing. He was a member of the Netherlands
> Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences, a member of the American Academy
> of Arts and Sciences, and a Distinguished Fellow of the British
> Computer Society. He received the 1974 AFIPS Harry Goode Award, the
> 1982 IEEE Computer Pioneer Award, and the 1989 ACM SIGCSE Award for
> Outstanding Contributions to Computer Science Education. Athens
> University of Economics awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2001. In
> 2002, the C&C Foundation of Japan recognized Dijkstra "for his
> pioneering contributions to the establishment of the scientific basis
> for computer software through creative research in basic software
> theory, algorithm theory, structured programming, and semaphores".
>
> Dijkstra is renowned for the insight that mathematical logic is and
> must be the basis for sensible computer program construction and for
> his contributions to mathematical methodology. He is responsible for
> the idea of building operating systems as explicitly synchronized
> sequential processes, for the formal development of computer programs,
> and for the intellectual foundations for the disciplined control of
> nondeterminacy. He is well known for his amazingly efficient shortest
> path algorithm and for having designed and coded the first Algol 60
> compiler. He was famously the leader in the abolition of the GOTO
> statement from programming.
>
> Dijkstra was a prodigious writer. His entire collection of over
> thirteen hundred written works was digitally scanned and is accessible
> at http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD. He also corresponded regularly
> with hundreds of friends and colleagues over the years --not by email
> but by conventional post. He strenuously preferred the fountain pen to
> the computer in producing his scholarly output and letters.
>
> Dijkstra was notorious for his wit, eloquence, and way with words,
> such as in his remark "The question of whether computers can think is
> like the question of whether submarines can swim"; his advice to a
> promising researcher, who asked how to select a topic for research:
> "Do only what only you can do"; and his remark in his Turing Award
> lecture "In their capacity as a tool, computers will be but a ripple
> on the surface of our culture. In their capacity as intellectual
> challenge, they are without precedent in the cultural history of
> mankind."
>
> Dijkstra enriched the language of computing with many concepts and
> phrases, such as structured programming, separation of concerns,
> synchronization, deadly embrace, dining philosophers, weakest
> precondition, guarded command, the excluded miracle, and the famous
> "semaphores" for controlling computer processes. The Oxford English
> Dictionary cites his use of the words "vector" and "stack" in a
> computing context.
>
> Dijkstra enjoyed playing Mozart for his friends on his Boesendorfer
> piano. He and his wife had a fondness for exploring state and national
> parks in their Volkswagen bus, dubbed the Touring Machine, in which he
> wrote many technical papers.
>
> Throughout his scientific career, Dijkstra formulated and pursued the
> highest academic ideals of scientific rigour untainted by commercial,
> managerial, or political considerations. Simplicity, beauty, and
> eloquence were his hallmarks, and his uncompromising insistence on
> elegance in programming and mathematics was an inspiration to
> thousands. He judged his own work by the highest standards and set a
> continuing challenge to his many friends to do the same. For the rest,
> he willingly undertook the role of Socrates, that of a gadfly to
> society, repeatedly goading his native and his adoptive country by
> remarking on the mistakes inherent in fashionable ideas and the
> dangers of time-serving compromises. Like Socrates, his most
> significant legacy is to those who engaged with him in small group
> discussions or scientific correspondence about half-formulated ideas
> and emerging discoveries. Particularly privileged are those who
> attended his reading groups in Eindhoven and Austin, known as the
> "Tuesday Afternoon Clubs".
>
> At Dijkstra's passage, let us recall Phaedo's parting remark about
> Socrates: "we may truly say that of all the men of his time whom we
> have known, he was the wisest and justest and best."

 

• Knuth （转）
  Donald E. Knuth，1938年出生于Wisconsin。1960年，当他毕业于Case Institute of echnology数学系时，因为成绩过于出色，被校方打破历史惯例，同时授予学士和硕士学位。他随即进入大名鼎鼎的加州理工学院数学系，仅用三年时间便取得博士学位，此时年仅25岁。毕业后留校任助理教授，28岁时升为副教授。30岁时，加盟斯坦福大学计算机系，任正教授。从31岁那年起，他开始出版他的历史性经典巨著：The Art of Computer Programming。他计划共写7卷，然而仅仅出版三卷之后，已经震惊世界，使他获得计算机科学界的最高荣誉Turing Award! 此时，他年仅38岁！后来，此书与牛顿的“自然哲学的数学原理”等一起， 被评为“世界历史上最伟大的十种科学著作”之一。相信学过数据结构和编译原理的同学们都知道KMP算法和LR(K)算法有多么不可思议，然而此书中这样的算法比比皆是！ 在计算机科学上，他主要是一位理论家。然而，他在理论以外也同样做出惊人的成就。鼎鼎大名的排版软件Tex，就是他的作品。此外，还有Metafont等，也在世界上得到广泛使用。他的其它著作和论文难以数计，其中包括Concrete Mathematics等名著。从1977年起，他获得Fletcher Jones Professor of Computer Science的 头衔，并且同时兼任Professor of Electrical Engineering。1990年，斯坦 福大学更授予他一个非同寻常的头衔Professor of The Art of Computer
  Science，作为对他的特殊贡献的承认！他的其它荣誉数不胜数，其中主要的有：美国国家科学院院士，美国艺术与科学院院士，美国工程院院士，法国科学院外籍院士，挪威科学院外籍院士.......；美国数学会Steele奖，瑞典皇家科学院Adelskold奖，以色列工学院Harvey奖，IEEE冯诺依曼奖，东京高科技奖...... 共达数十个之多。同时，他还是牛津大学等二十几所大学的荣誉博士。早在1970年，他就在
  国际数学大会上做过特邀报告。建议感兴趣的同学参观他的竹叶：http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/ Knuth获得图灵奖时为36岁，前面多说了两岁。估计他可能是历史上最年轻的图灵奖获得者，甚至有可能永远把这个记录保持下去。相比之下，其他获得图灵奖的人当时一般都是五十几岁或者六十几岁 (例如去年的姚先生，和刚去世的Simon)，可见Knuth有多伟大！他真
  不愧为大师中的大师！ 他很早就提前退休，为的是集中精力把巨著The Art of Computer
  Programming写完。他一生共带过二十四个(此数字也许不准)博士生，发誓不会再带更多的学生。但是，他有一个奇妙的承诺：在他定期进行的讲座中，会不断提出一些新的难题。如果有人能在给定的期限内解出任何一道难题，他将为那个人的博士论文签名(大约相当于名誉导师吧)！
• Dennis M Ritchie（丹尼斯·里奇）， C语言之父，UNIX之父。生于1941年9月9日，哈佛大学数学博士。现在，Dennis M. Ritchie 担任朗讯科技公司贝尔实验室 (原AT&T实验室)下属的计算机科学研究中心系统软件研究部的主任一职。1978年Brian W. Kernighan和Dennis M. Ritchie出版了名著《C程序设计语言（The C Programming Language）》，现在此书已翻译成多种语言，成为C语言方面最权威的教材之一。

1974年，美国计算机协会（ACM）授予他系统及语言杰出论文奖。
1982年，电气和电子工程师协会（IEEE）授予他 Emmanuel Piore 奖。
1983年，他获得了贝尔实验室特别人员奖和
1983年，还获得美国计算机协会颁发的图灵奖（又称计算机界的诺贝尔奖）。
1989年，他获得了NEC公司的 C&C 基金奖。
1990年，电气和电子工程师协会又给他颁发了优秀奖章（Hamming Medal）
1999年，他和同为UNIX之父的Ken Thompson 获得美国国家技术奖章。等等。

• Bjarne Stroustrup博士，1950年出生于丹麦，先后毕业于丹麦阿鲁斯大学和英国剑挢大学，AT&T大规模程序设计研究部门负责人，AT&T 贝尔实验室和ACM成员。1979年，B. S开始开发一种语言，当时称为"C with Class"，后来演化为C++。1998年，ANSI/ISO C++标准建立，同年，B. S推出其经典著作The C++ Programming Language的第三版
• Stan Lippman是著名的C++语言先驱，CFront编译器开发团队的领导人，经典著作C++ Primer的作者。
• Herb Sutter是C++ Standard Committee的主席，作为ISO/ANSI C++标准委员会的委员，Herb Sutter是C++程序设计领域屈指可数的大师之一。他现在和Stan Lippman一道在微软主持VC 2005(即C++/CLI)的设计。此外，他还是是深受程序员喜爱的技术讲师和作家，《Exceptional C++》系列图书成为每一位C++程序员的必读。