Date of Birth | Nationality | Residence | Education | Occupation |
---|---|---|---|---|
January 1, 1942 | Canadian | Princeton, New Jersey | University of Toronto, Harvard University | Computer Scientist, UNIX Developer |
Brian Kernighan is a Canadian computer scientist and UNIX developer. He is best known for his work on the UNIX operating system, which he co-developed with Dennis Ritchie. He is also known for his work on the C programming language, which he co-authored with Ritchie.
Kernighan was born in Toronto, Canada, in 1942. He attended the University of Toronto, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering in 1962. He then attended Harvard University, where he received a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering in 1967.
Kernighan began his career at Bell Labs in 1967, where he worked on the UNIX operating system. He co-authored the first book on the C programming language, The C Programming Language, with Dennis Ritchie in 1978. He also wrote several other books on programming, including The UNIX Programming Environment and The AWK Programming Language.
Kernighan has been awarded numerous awards for his work, including the IEEE Computer Pioneer Award in 1997, the ACM Software System Award in 1999, and the IEEE Computer Society's Computer Science and Engineering Award in 2008.
Brian Kernighan was born in Toronto, Canada, on January 1, 1942. He attended the University of Toronto, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering in 1962. He then attended Harvard University, where he received a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering in 1967.
Kernighan began his career at Bell Labs in 1967, where he worked on the UNIX operating system. He co-authored the first book on the C programming language, The C Programming Language, with Dennis Ritchie in 1978.
Kernighan began his career at Bell Labs in 1967, where he worked on the UNIX operating system. He co-authored the first book on the C programming language, The C Programming Language, with Dennis Ritchie in 1978. He also wrote several other books on programming, including The UNIX Programming Environment and The AWK Programming Language.
Kernighan has been awarded numerous awards for his work, including the IEEE Computer Pioneer Award in 1997, the ACM Software System Award in 1999, and the IEEE Computer Society's Computer Science and Engineering Award in 2008.
Kernighan has worked with many other notable computer scientists, including Dennis Ritchie, Ken Thompson, and Rob Pike. He is also a close friend of the late computer scientist and UNIX pioneer, Ken Thompson.
Kernighan is known for his famous quote, “Debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place. Therefore, if you write the code as cleverly as possible, you are, by definition, not smart enough to debug it.”
Kernighan has been criticized for his involvement in the development of the UNIX operating system, which has been accused of being overly complex and difficult to use.
Kernighan is also known for his work on the AWK programming language, which he co-authored with Alfred Aho and Peter Weinberger.
Kernighan is a professor emeritus at Princeton University, where he teaches courses on computer science and programming. He is also a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.