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Edsger Dijkstra Biography

Born asEdsger Wybe Dijkstra
Known asEdsger W. Dijkstra
Occup.Scientist
FromNetherland
SpouseMaria (Ria) C. Debets
BornMay 11, 1930
Rotterdam, Netherlands
DiedAugust 6, 2002
Nuenen, Netherlands
CauseCancer
Aged72 years
Early Life
Edsger Wybe Dijkstra was born on May 11, 1930, in Rotterdam, Netherlands. He was the eldest of four kids birthed to his mother, Alberta Everdina Scholten, and papa, Berend Hendrik Dijkstra. His dad was a chemistry teacher, and also his mom was a mathematician. Edsger grew up in an academic setting, as well as it aided him in creating a rate of interest in mathematics and also scientific research from a very early age.

Education
Dijkstra completed his very early schooling in Rotterdam. He demonstrated fantastic capacity in mathematics throughout his institution days. After World War II, Dijkstra went on to research theoretical physics at the University of Leyden. It was throughout this moment that he was exposed to the foundations of computer technology. Dijkstra finished in 1956 with a degree in maths and also academic physics.

In his early career, Dijkstra signed up with the Mathematical Centre in Amsterdam, where he was presented to computer system programs. He started dealing with the ARMAC (Automatic Relay Calculator Amsterdam) computer system under the support of Aad van Wijngarden, a mathematician as well as computer scientist.

Which led him to go after doctorate study in computer technology, resulting in a Ph.D. in 1959 under the guidance of Van Wijngarden. His Ph.D. argumentation was entitled "Communication with an Automatic Computer", in which he suggested a brand-new shows language as well as methodology called ALGOL, which later on ended up being extremely significant in the development of computer system programs.

Academic as well as Professional Career
After finishing his doctorate, Dijkstra used up numerous academic roles. In 1962, he signed up with the Eindhoven University of Technology as a professor of mathematics, concentrating on the arising field of computer technology. Right here, he created several significant programming algorithms, consisting of the fastest course formula, commonly referred to as Dijkstra's algorithm.

In 1973, Dijkstra relocated to the United States and joined Burroughs Corporation as a research other, where he went after research in software engineering as well as programs languages. In 1984, he was selected as a teacher of computer science at the University of Texas at Austin, where he continued to teach and carry out research till his retirement in 1999.

Throughout his profession, Dijkstra added considerably to the fields of computer system shows and software design. Several of his remarkable payments consist of:
- Development of the ALGOL programming language
- The invention of the stack information structure
- The semaphore concept, which is crucial for concurrent computing

Personal Life and also Family
Dijkstra married Maria C. (Ria) Debets in 1957. The couple had three children: two daughters, Femke and Ruth, and also a son, Marcus. Dijkstra was understood for his love of symphonic music and also taken pleasure in playing the piano.

Awards and Recognition
Edsger Dijkstra got countless awards as well as distinctions throughout his career for his groundbreaking contributions to computer science. Several of the prominent ones include:
- ACM Turing Award (1972) - Often described as the "Nobel Prize of Computing" for his work in structuring programming languages and also formulas.
- IEEE Computer Pioneer Award (1982) - For his very early work in computer shows as well as software program engineering.
- ACM Software System Award (1989) - For his duty in the development of the ALGOL programs language.
- Foreign Associate of the United States National Academy of Engineering (2000) - For his remarkable payments to design and computing.

Death and also Legacy
Edsger Dijkstra passed away on August 6, 2002, in Nuenen, Netherlands after a short battle with cancer. He was 72 years of ages at the time.

Dijkstra left an enduring tradition in the area of computer science, with his innovative operate in programs and software design forming a lot of the sector today. His devotion to the structured shows motion as well as his impact as an educator as well as mentor have actually had a lasting effect on generations of computer researchers. With his cutting-edge algorithms as well as essential technique to computing, Edsger Dijkstra stays a giant on the planet of computer technology.

Our collection contains 26 quotes who is written / told by Edsger, under the main topic Computers.

Related authors: Lawrence Taylor (Athlete)

Source / external links:

26 Famous quotes by Edsger Dijkstra

Small: Object-oriented programming is an exceptionally bad idea which could only have originated in California
"Object-oriented programming is an exceptionally bad idea which could only have originated in California"
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Small: Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability
"Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability"
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Small: The use of COBOL cripples the mind its teaching should, therefore, be regarded as a criminal offense
"The use of COBOL cripples the mind; its teaching should, therefore, be regarded as a criminal offense"
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Small: The students that, like the wild animal being prepared for its tricks in the circus called life, expect
"The students that, like the wild animal being prepared for its tricks in the circus called "life", expects only training as sketched above, will be severely disappointed: by his standards he will learn next to nothing"
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Small: It is practically impossible to teach good programming to students that have had a prior exposure to BA
"It is practically impossible to teach good programming to students that have had a prior exposure to BASIC: as potential programmers they are mentally mutilated beyond hope of regeneration"
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Small: I mentioned the non-competitive spirit explicitly, because these days, excellence is a fashionable conc
"I mentioned the non-competitive spirit explicitly, because these days, excellence is a fashionable concept. But excellence is a competitive notion, and that is not what we are heading for: we are heading for perfection"
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Small: Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes
"Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes"
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Small: Program testing can be used to show the presence of bugs, but never to show their absence!
"Program testing can be used to show the presence of bugs, but never to show their absence!"
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Small: Mathematicians are like managers - they want improvement without change
"Mathematicians are like managers - they want improvement without change"
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Small: Dont compete with me: firstly, I have more experience, and secondly, I have chosen the weapons
"Don't compete with me: firstly, I have more experience, and secondly, I have chosen the weapons"
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Small: Why has elegance found so little following? That is the reality of it. Elegance has the disadvantage, i
"Why has elegance found so little following? That is the reality of it. Elegance has the disadvantage, if that's what it is, that hard work is needed to achieve it and a good education to appreciate it"
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Small: There should be no such thing as boring mathematics
"There should be no such thing as boring mathematics"
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Small: If 10 years from now, when you are doing something quick and dirty, you suddenly visualize that I am lo
"If 10 years from now, when you are doing something quick and dirty, you suddenly visualize that I am looking over your shoulders and say to yourself: 'Dijkstra would not have liked this', well that would be enough immortality for me"
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Small: The lurking suspicion that something could be simplified is the worlds richest source of rewarding chal
"The lurking suspicion that something could be simplified is the world's richest source of rewarding challenges"
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Small: Perfecting oneself is as much unlearning as it is learning
"Perfecting oneself is as much unlearning as it is learning"
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Small: Many mathematicians derive part of their self-esteem by feeling themselves the proud heirs of a long tr
"Many mathematicians derive part of their self-esteem by feeling themselves the proud heirs of a long tradition of rational thinking; I am afraid they idealize their cultural ancestors"
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Small: The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than the question of whether a subm
"The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than the question of whether a submarine can swim"
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Small: Teaching to unsuspecting youngsters the effective use of formal methods is one of the joys of life beca
"Teaching to unsuspecting youngsters the effective use of formal methods is one of the joys of life because it is so extremely rewarding"
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Small: Programming is one of the most difficult branches of applied mathematics the poorer mathematicians had
"Programming is one of the most difficult branches of applied mathematics; the poorer mathematicians had better remain pure mathematicians"
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Small: Elegance is not a dispensable luxury but a factor that decides between success and failure
"Elegance is not a dispensable luxury but a factor that decides between success and failure"
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Small: The ability of discerning high quality unavoidably implies the ability of identifying shortcomings
"The ability of discerning high quality unavoidably implies the ability of identifying shortcomings"
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Small: About the use of language: it is impossible to sharpen a pencil with a blunt axe. It is equally vain to
"About the use of language: it is impossible to sharpen a pencil with a blunt axe. It is equally vain to try to do it with ten blunt axes instead"
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Small: The traditional mathematician recognizes and appreciates mathematical elegance when he sees it.
"The traditional mathematician recognizes and appreciates mathematical elegance when he sees it. I propose to go one step further, and to consider elegance an essential ingredient of mathematics: if it is clumsy, it is not mathematics"
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Small: The competent programmer is fully aware of the limited size of his own skull. He therefore approaches h
"The competent programmer is fully aware of the limited size of his own skull. He therefore approaches his task with full humility, and avoids clever tricks like the plague"
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Small: APL is a mistake, carried through to perfection. It is the language of the future for the programming t
"APL is a mistake, carried through to perfection. It is the language of the future for the programming techniques of the past: it creates a new generation of coding bums"
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Small: Aim for brevity while avoiding jargon
"Aim for brevity while avoiding jargon"
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