At MIT, mostly what I did was documentation. I sort of read things. Wrote some descriptions of various aspects of the file system. Did not really do very much programming at all. At least on Multics. Dennis Ritchie More Quotes by Dennis Ritchie More Quotes From Dennis Ritchie UNIX is basically a simple operating system, but you have to be a genius to understand the simplicity. Dennis Ritchie simplicity genius simple The only way to learn a new programming language is by writing programs in it. Dennis Ritchie learning writing way Unix has retarded OS research by 10 years and linux has retarded it by 20. Dennis Ritchie linux research years C is quirky, flawed, and an enormous success. Dennis Ritchie quirky programming computer A language that doesn't have everything is actually easier to program in than some that do Dennis Ritchie computer simplicity language I'm still uncertain about the language declaration syntax. Dennis Ritchie syntax uncertain language C++ and Java, say, are presumably growing faster than plain C, but I bet C will still be around. Dennis Ritchie java growing faster ... with proper design, the features come cheaply. This approach is arduous, but continues to succeed. Dennis Ritchie software succeed design I'm not a person who particularly had heros when growing up. Dennis Ritchie growing growing-up hero Pretty much everything on the web uses those two things: C and UNIX. Dennis Ritchie unix use two Obviously, the person who had most influence on my career was Ken Thompson. Unix was basically his, likewise C's predecessor, likewise much of the basis of Plan 9 (though Rob Pike was the real force in getting it together). And in the meantime Ken created the first computer chess master and pretty much rewrote the book on chess endgames. He is quite a phenomenon. Dennis Ritchie careers real book The number of UNIX installations has grown to 10, with more expected. Dennis Ritchie unix expected numbers I'm just an observer of Java, and where Microsoft wants to go with C# is too early to tell. Dennis Ritchie java microsoft want I can't recall any difficulty in making the C language definition completely open - any discussion on the matter tended to mention languages whose inventors tried to keep tight control, and consequent ill fate Dennis Ritchie fate definitions matter A program designed for inputs from people is usually stressed beyond breaking point by computer-generated inputs. Dennis Ritchie point-break stressed people For infrastructure technology, C will be hard to displace. Dennis Ritchie infrastructure hard technology At least for the people who send me mail about a new language that they're designing, the general advice is: do it to learn about how to write a compiler Dennis Ritchie writing advice people Sometimes when you fill a vacuum, it still sucks. Dennis Ritchie vacuums stills sometimes From an operating system research point of view, Unix is if not dead certainly old stuff, and it's clear that people should be looking beyond it. Dennis Ritchie research views people UNIX is simple and coherent, but it takes a genius (or at any rate, a programmer) to understand and appreciate its simplicity. Dennis Ritchie simplicity appreciate simple
