Guido van Rossum (Dutch pronunciation: ['?ido v?n 'r?s?m, -s?m], born 31 January 1956) is a Dutch programmer who is best known as the author of the Python programming language. In the Python community, Van Rossum is known as a "Benevolent Dictator For Life" (BDFL), meaning that he continues to oversee the Python development process, making decisions where necessary. He was employed by Google from 2005 until December 7th 2012, where he spent half his time developing the Python language. In January 2013, Van Rossum started working for Dropbox.
Video Guido van Rossum
Biography
Van Rossum was born and raised in the Netherlands, where he received a master's degree in mathematics and computer science from the University of Amsterdam in 1982. He later worked for various research institutes, including the Dutch Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI), Amsterdam, the United States National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, Maryland, and the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI), Reston, Virginia. He himself said in twitter that the "van" in his name is never capitalised.
Maps Guido van Rossum
Personal life
Guido van Rossum is the brother of Just van Rossum, a type designer and programmer. Just van Rossum designed the typeface that is used in the "Python Powered" logo. Guido lives in Belmont, California with his wife, Kim Knapp, and their son, Orlijn.
Work
While working at the Stichting Mathematisch Centrum (CWI), Guido van Rossum wrote and contributed a glob() routine to BSD Unix in 1986. Van Rossum also worked on the development of the ABC programming language, later stating, "I try to mention ABC's influence because I'm indebted to everything I learned during that project and to the people who worked on it." He also created the early Grail web browser which was written in Python and engaged in discussions about the HTML standard.
Python
About the origin of Python, Van Rossum wrote in 1996:
Over six years ago, in December 1989, I was looking for a "hobby" programming project that would keep me occupied during the week around Christmas. My office ... would be closed, but I had a home computer, and not much else on my hands. I decided to write an interpreter for the new scripting language I had been thinking about lately: a descendant of ABC that would appeal to Unix/C hackers. I chose Python as a working title for the project, being in a slightly irreverent mood (and a big fan of Monty Python's Flying Circus).
In 2000 he further wrote:
Python's predecessor, ABC, was inspired by SETL - Lambert Meertens spent a year with the SETL group at NYU before coming up with the final ABC design!
Computer Programming for Everybody
In 1999, Van Rossum submitted a funding proposal to DARPA called Computer Programming for Everybody, in which he further defined his goals for Python:
- an easy and intuitive language just as powerful as major competitors
- open source, so anyone can contribute to its development
- code that is as understandable as plain English
- suitability for everyday tasks, allowing for short development times
Python has grown to become a popular programming language. As of November 2011, it was the 3rd most popular language on the GitHub social coding website. According to a programming language popularity survey it is consistently amongst the top 10 most mentioned languages in job postings. Furthermore, Python is consistently in the top 10 most popular languages according to the TIOBE Programming Community Index.
Mondrian
While working for Google, Van Rossum developed Mondrian, a web-based code review system written in Python and used within the company. He named the software after the Dutch painter Piet Mondrian. He named another related software project after Gerrit Rietveld, a Dutch designer.
Dropbox
In December 2012, Van Rossum joined the cloud file storage company Dropbox.
Recognition
- At the 2002 FOSDEM conference in Brussels, Van Rossum received the 2001 Award for the Advancement of Free Software from the Free Software Foundation (FSF) for his work on Python.
- Van Rossum received a NLUUG Award in May 2003.
- In 2006, Van Rossum was recognized as a Distinguished Engineer by the Association for Computing Machinery.
References
External links
- Official website
- The History of Python Guido's blog on the History of Python and design decisions
- Computer Programming for Everybody
- Interview with Guido van Rossum on FLOSS Weekly
- Guido van Rossum Guido's interview on Workspiration
- Computerworld Interview with Guido van Rossum on Python
- Google App Engine -- Run your web applications on Google's infrastructure -- technical talk on Google App Engine given by Guido van Rossum at Stanford University. (online video archive)
Source of article : Wikipedia
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