Bjarne Stroustrup (b. 1950)

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Biography

Bjarne Stroustrup is a Danish computer scientist, known for the development of the C++ programming language. He led the Large-scale Programming Research department at Bell Labs, served as a professor of computer science at Texas A&M University, and spent over a decade at Morgan Stanley while also being a visiting professor at Columbia University. Since 2022 he has been a full professor at Columbia.

In Their Own Words (5)

One of the things I really like about programming languages is that it's the perfect excuse to stick your nose into any field. So if you're interested in high energy physics and the structure of the universe, being a programmer is one of the best ways to get in there. It's probably easier than becoming a theoretical physicist.

"Bjarne Stroustrup - The Essence of C++" talk at the University of Edinburgh's George Square Lecture Theatre (28 April 2014) , 2014

The connection between the language in which we think/program and the problems and solutions we can imagine is very close. For this reason restricting language features with the intent of eliminating programmer errors is at best dangerous.

PDF: Notes to the Reader, The C++ Programming Language, Special Edition (2000), p. 9 , 2000

If you do anything useful it will haunt you forever after, and if you have a major success you get decades of hard manual labor — meaning you have to work on the manual.

"C++ Q&A Community Event with Bjarne Stroustrup" (27 August 2014) · 3m 20s , 2014

Within C++, there is a much smaller and cleaner language struggling to get out.

The Design and Evolution of C++ (1994), p. 207; a later clarification adds, "And no, that smaller and cleaner language is not Java or C#." , 1994

Design and programming are human activities; forget that and all is lost.

p. 693 , 2013

Timeline

The story of Bjarne Stroustrup, told in moments.

1979 Event

Began developing "C with Classes" at Bell Labs. He wanted to add Simula-like features to C for his PhD research. It would evolve into C++.

Was 'C with Classes' always meant to become something bigger? Did you foresee C++ running the world's infrastructure?

1985 Event

Published The C++ Programming Language. The book sold millions of copies and defined the language for an entire generation of programmers. C++ ran operating systems, games, browsers, and financial systems.

Did millions of copies of your book feel like influence or responsibility? Is C++ your legacy or your burden?

2004 Event

Elected to the National Academy of Engineering. C++ was by then used in virtually every major software system on Earth. He quipped: "There are only two kinds of languages: the ones people complain about and the ones nobody uses."

Are there really only two kinds of languages? Does being complained about prove success?