Leaving behind a legacy: Inventor of ‘C’ and co-creator of the Unix operating system, Ritchie’s enduring contribution powered the wired world that we know today.
‘Hello, World'. The simple, sleek and elementary programme that generates this phrase, written in computing language ‘C', has introduced generations of technologists to the world of computing. The man behind this code, and author of the seminal computing textbook The C Programming Language, Dennis Ritchie, passed away on October 12 at his home in New Jersey.
Inventor of ‘C' and co-creator of the Unix operating system, Ritchie's enduring contributions powered the wired world that we know today. Along with Ken Thompson, Ritchie developed tools and technologies that to this day provide the infrastructure for technologies ranging from the smartphone in your pocket to servers, data centres and supercomputers.
As the news of Ritchie's death spread, amidst obituaries and heart-felt tributes were sharp comparisons drawn with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs', who died a week before. The timing of the two deaths made comparisons inevitable; technologists and computer historians rued the manner in which the media eulogised the media-savvy Jobs, and many pointed out that Ritchie was, metaphorically speaking, “the shoulders that Steve Jobs stood on”.
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