The Bitsource proudly presents Pioneers of Computer Science. Pioneers of Computer Science is a showcase of those who made significant contributions to the fields of Computer Science and Software Engineering.

Have you wondered what inspires the pioneers of Computer Science and Software Engineering?
Pioneers of Computing intends to bring about information, interviews, and articles about those who have made their mark on the industry and changed it for the better.

Pioneers in Software Engineering

Pioneer: Guido Van Rossum
Contribution: The Python Programming Language http://www.python.org

The Bitsource: What inspired you to create the Python programming language?

Van Rossum: I wanted to write apps faster than I could in C, but with more performance than sh. This was in 1989.
http://python-history.blogspot.com/2009/01/personal-history-part-1-cwi.html

Pioneer: Bjarne Stroustrup
Contribution: The C++ Programming Language: http://www.research.att.com/~bs/C++.html

The Bitsource: What inspired you to create the C++ programming language?

Stroustrup: I wanted to write efficient systems programs in the styles encouraged by Simula67. To do that, I added facilities for better type checking, data abstraction, and object-oriented programming to C. The more general aim was to design a language in which I could write programs that were both efficient and elegant. Many languages force you to choose between those two alternatives.

The specific tasks that caused me to start designing and implementing C++ (initially called “C with Classes”) had to do with distributing operating system facilities across a network.

You can find more detailed explanations in The Design and Evolution of C++ . See also A History of C++: 1979-1991 and Evolving a language in and for the real world: C++ 1991-200.