Luca Cardelli is probably best known for Polyphonic C# and Biocomputing, but he has designed a number of experimental languages and published a variety of papers on Theoretical Computing subjects such as type theory and operational semantics. He is now Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research in Cambridge, and head of the Programming Principles and Tools and Security groups. We sent a slightly apprehensive Richard Morris to ask him about DNA Computing… Read more
After inventing the QuickSort algorithm, and designing the compiler for the Algol 60 programming language, Tony Hoare went on to apply axiomatic semantics to compiler design and his work and writings have since had a great influence on software engineering, and the way we specify, design, implement, and maintain computer programs. Now, at 75, he is working at Microsoft research on projects that will filter through to .NET languages.
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Charles Moore is one of the greatest ever programmers. The 'Forth' language he invented is still in use today, particularly by NASA, and has never been bettered for instrumentation and process control. He still argues persuasively that the only way we can develop effective software quickly is to embrace simplicity. Like Niklaus Wirth, he remains a radical whose views have become increasingly relevant to current software development… Read more
Many famous geeks work away at their programs without considering the wider implications of what they, and others, are doing. Richard Stallman isn't like that. Richard (rms) is one of the great brains behind Linux Distros, as he wrote the GNU compilers and GNU debugger. He is driven by strong opinions about the nature of free software, and the restrictive nature of software copyright. We sent our intrepid reporter, Richard Morris, to find out if Richard Stallman really required journalists to read parts of the GNU philosophy before an interview, for "efficiency's sake".… Read more
It is difficult to begin to estimate the huge extent of the contribution that Niklaus Wirth has made to IT as it exists today. Although now retired for ten years, he remains a abiding influence on the design of computer languages. It is likely that the first structured computer language you ever learned was written by him. He still has fascinating views on contemporary software trends, as Richard Morris found out when he spoke to him.… Read more
Occasionally, readers of Simple-Talk will ask quizzically if the 'Geek of the Week' that the editors have chosen really is a true 'geek'. Nobody could ever ask that about Craig Newmark, the founder of the famous website 'CraigsList'. The site is uncompromisingly geeky in attitude, spartan in appearance but immensely popular, and supported by an army of enthusiasts. One can say exactly the same about the admirable Craig Newmark himself. … Read more
Marc Wick is the genius behind GeoNames, the free Web Service that powers a number of popular GPS applications and games. It is an open-source database of geographical information that is used by hundreds of applications from iPhone apps to political organizations. Its data is used for research and geo-visualizations in universities around the world. It underpins a large number of geography-aware applications and can be loaded into SQL Server Spatial and used with the new geospatial features of SQL Server 2008… Read more
Anders Hejlsberg, the creative genius behind C#, and much of the .NET framework, had already been famous for sixteen years as a compiler-writer before he joined Microsoft twelve years ago. His BLS Pascal, Turbo Pascal, and Delphi had revolutionized the way that we develop software. Today, he is still bubbling with new ideas and radical initiatives.… Read more
Gail Shaw, the fabled 'gilamonster', earned her MVP, and the gratitude of a great number of SQL Server professional seeking technical help, through her expert forum posts on SQL Server Central. She brings great enthusiasm to everything she does, including SQL Server, and has come to be a huge influence on the communities she joins. … Read more
Richard Morris talks to Michael Meeks, a young Geek who has made a huge impact on the quality of Open source software in the past eight years. He is a Cambridge graduate, a committed Christian, and is modest about his impressive achievements. He gives an interesting interview too!… Read more
Cartoonist, mathematician, historian and environmentalist. Larry Gonick proved that learning could be fun by producing a wide range of educational books, all done as comic strips. Many present-day geeks attribute the awakening of their enthusiasm for science to coming across one of Larry's books.… Read more
Without Bjarne Stroustrup, object-oriented programming would have taken much longer to gain mainstream acceptance. Bjarne wrote and popularised 'C with classes', later C++, which changed the way that mainstream computer languages worked. It is still the language of choice for system programmers.… Read more
Real geeks read Verity Stob. Verity writes her painfully funny invective from a powerful advantage, she is a geek herself, and her humour comes from the pain of every-day life as a programmer. Verity Stob, with her unique, and hilarious, contribution to making our lives bearable, had to be our Geek of the Week. We sent Richard Morris to interview her, of course.… Read more
It is extraordinary how much 'Peli' has achieved in a short space of time. Here, our choice for Geek of the Week, 'Peli' de Halleux, talks about his contributions to MbUnit, .NET Reflector, QuickGraph and Pex. … Read more
Kalen Delaney has been involved in SQL Server from the beginning. Her talks and her writings are always interesting but, most important of all, she was able to successfully take on authorship of the 'Inside SQL Server' series of books from Ron Soukup, and make them her own. Despite her own protests that she is a trainer first and foremost, she richly deserves our accolade of 'Geek of the Week'… Read more
Andrew Tanenbaum has had an immense influence on the way that operating systems are designed. He provided the inspiration for Linux, in his lightweight kernel Minix, and his classic textbook 'Operating Systems: Design and Implementation' that Linus Torvalds described as 'the book that launched me to new heights.'
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Professor Ross Anderson is one of the foremost experts in Computer Security in the world. He has published widely on the economics of security. cryptology, formal methods, hardware design, and the robustness of distributed systems in general. He is best known for his book 'Security Engineering: A Guide to Building Dependable Distributed Systems'. He has never been shy of controversy, and we were intrigued by the influence he wields at Cambridge University; so intrigued were we that we sent the taciturn Richard Morris to find out more from him… Read more
Linus Torvalds is remarkable, not only for being the technical genius who wrote Linux, but for then being able to inspire and lead an enormous team of people to devote their free time to work on the operating system and bring it to maturity. We sent Richard Morris off to interview Linus, and find out more. … Read more
Simple-Talk's Geek of the Week is Dr Richard Hipp. His code is probably running on your PC, and running completely reliably, for he almost single-handedly wrote SQLite, the most widely deployed SQL Database system in the world. Then he put it in the public domain for all of humanity to benefit from. We sent Richard Morris off to ask this remarkable man why he did it.… Read more
We interview Simple-Talk's Geek of the Week, Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee OM KBE FRS FREng FRSA. , ranked first in The Telegraph's list of 100 greatest living geniuses, and director of the World Wide Web Consortium. What has he achieved? He invented the World Wide Web, Browsers and Web Servers. You could reasonably argue that he invented Wikis and Blogs too. And he's still inventing things.… Read more
