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Dennis Ritchie 1941-2011: Message from Jeong Kim
Dennis Ritchie (right) receiving the Japan Prize in May 2011
[Message from Jeong Kim, President, Bell Labs, to our employees]
It is with great sadness that I inform you that Dennis Ritchie has passed away at the age of 70.
Dennis was well loved by his colleagues at Bell Labs, and will be greatly missed. He was truly an inspiration to all of us, not just for his many accomplishments, but because of who he was as a friend, an inventor, and a humble and gracious man.
This summer we were fortunate to celebrate with him as he accepted the 2011 Japan Prize for co-inventing the UNIX® operating system and the C programming language at a ceremony in Murray Hill, NJ, which was viewed by Bell Labs colleagues around the world. For many it was the first time they got to meet him and hear from him. I know I speak for all of Bell Labs when I say that he made us so proud of him that day.
As one of the most respected researchers from Bell Labs, Dennis has a long list of accomplishments In addition to his work on UNIX and the C language, Dennis also contributed to the Plan 9 operating system, generally released in 1995, and also to the Inferno operating system, which was announced in April 1996. His last contribution to the UNIX system was a Stream input-output mechanism for connecting networks, terminals, and processes in a unified way.
Dennis joined the Bell Labs Computer Systems Research department in 1967, and though he retired in 2007 from the Computer Science Research Center, he continued to maintain close ties as a consultant for Bell Labs.
He has received numerous prestigious awards and honors for his work, including the ACM award for the outstanding paper of 1974 in systems and languages; IEEE Piore, Hamming and Pioneer medals, Bell Laboratories Fellow; Association for Computing Machinery Turing Award (1983); ACM Software Systems Award (1983); C&C Foundation award of NEC (1989); the US Medal of Technology (1999); the U Penn Harold Pender Award (2003); and the Japan Prize (2011). All of these were shared with Ken Thompson, co-inventor of UNIX and the C programming language and long-time friend of Dennis.
Dennis also was elected to the U. S. National Academy of Engineering in 1988.
On behalf of Bell Labs, I would like to express my deepest sympathies to the Ritchie family, and to all who have been touched in some way by Dennis.
Jeong
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57 Responses to Dennis Ritchie 1941-2011: Message from Jeong Kim
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A truly great inventor and innovator. Through his book The C Programming Language, I learned code correctness and have modelled my programming style on what he taught. A very sad and great loss to the computing world. A huge inspiration to many, not least myself. Has taught me so many fundamentals and philosophies in my computing career.
static void *dmr = (void *)&dmr; /* RIP */
This is a huge loss for the entire programming community. Most of the major languages today have their foundations based on the C programming language. An absolutely huge loss for the OS world as well. Regardless of whichever major OS/platform you are coding on today Ritchie’s fingerprint can be found on it somewhere. I feel it and I work entirely on Windows, .NET & Azure. We will miss you Dennis Ritchie!
A great scientist, he set the background of computing programs and operative systems. Unix is the most succesful OS and C the most useful and versatile programming language. RIP Dennis.
Just wanted to pay my respects.
Thank you for everything, Dennis. Rest in Peace…
I count myself as extremely fortunate to have meet Dr. Richie at a Usenix conference in the mid 80′s. What struck me most about him was not his genius, evident in his work, but that he was “a humble and gracious man”. Due to the timing of their passing, it was inevitable that he should be compared with Steve Jobs, but it’s hard to think of any two people who where less alike. Mr Jobs’ contributions, while significant and important, are of a fundamentally different nature than Dr Richie’s. Dr Richie’s contributions where to computer science where Mr Jobs’ contributions where to marketing and design. A similar comparison could be made between Tesla and Edison, except Edison was more of a “hands on” innovator than Mr Jobs.
Ritchie will be missed – who can fill his shoes? Our prayers to his family.
printf(“I always hold your book in C back when I was in college. It’s inspiring to read that book and it became fruitful to me as I grow and came to success now with computer technology.\n Rest in Peace Sir.”);
Demise of Steve Jobs was a great blow to the IT community as a whole. But I think that the death of Dennis Ritchie is a much larger loss to the software development circles. Ritchie shall always be remembered with reverence. May he rest in peace.
My Salute.
Masroor.
Thank you for C, Thank for UNIX
Rest in Peace
Спасибо за С, Спасибо за Unix
Покойся с миром Деннис
Спасибо за то что ты был.
Rest in Peace Dennis Ritchie. It is a great loss to the whole world.
Thank you for the awe-inspiring technology you created..C & UNIX..will always love them..RIP Denise.
Great Human ,inventor,Scientist. I love and miss you very badly Sir.
Praying for your Soul rest in Peace.
We miss you.
Thank you
So long DMR, and thank you. A true Leviathan amongst giants.
My tribute to a great scientist. RIP.
Indeed a huge loss for programming community all around the world, C and Unix the two main pillars of Computer Science. He was great Inventor and Scientist.. we are here working in IT field due to his efforts to create a marvelous language “C” and Unix operating system.. C language gives me courage and confidence to write code, it gives me power and knowledge to understand modern languages like c#. It is indeed a huge loss and very sad news for the I.T professionals. Steve Jobs then Dennis Ritchie
year 2011 is not good for us.
A very sad news, which is next to Steve Jobs of Apple!
We are missing the real genuis
As everyone said it right, your contribution to the Computer Science industry is incomparable. Most of us would NOT have jobs without your inventions!
May god give enough strength to your family members to accept and bear the loss ! May your soul rest in peace, dear Dennis Ritchie Sir!
Cheers,
Raghavan alias Saravanan M
Bengaluru | India
void()
{
int year;
for (year=1941; year<2011; year++)
{
printf("Year %d, Ritchie creates and enhances the C language\n", year);
}
printf("\nYear %d, Dennis Ritchie RIP\n", year);
printf("Incredible. A milestone in computing\n");
while (1)
{
year++;
printf("Year %d, Thanks a lot Dennis\n", year);
}
}
source from:
http://www.maxsoftprojects.com/2011/10/dennis-ritchie-rip.html
Not a good month for the Pioneers in tech. What the heck is God building up there?
Rest in Peace Dennis Ritchie..
Your contributions made the World of computers what it is today.
Thank you.
What a great loss to the community! If not for his invention of the C programming language, I wonder how the world would look now. Also to be noted are his contributions to the UNIX kernel itself,footprints of which exist everywhere, literally everywhere!
Sir Dennis Ritchie, Rest In Peace.
~Pradeep Prakash
(Alcatel Lucent, Bangalore)
Aprendemos muito com ele.
Oremos pela Família dele, que o Sr. Nosso Deus todo poderoso conforte seus coraçoes. Amem!
At.
Samuel
I owe my success in my technical life to your invention Dennis! I will still remember day I met you!
May your soul rest in peace.
Arun
#include
main()
{
printf(“R.I.P,Ritchie”);
}
Rest in peace Dennis Sir. Your contributions to the whole software community is unmatched. Your creations of C language and Unix will live for ever in some form or other. Your contributions have translated in employment in far reaching parts of this world. We will miss you
- Hariram
RIP, Dennis. You did good!
Thank you so much, Sir Dennis Ritchie.
Rest in peace.
Esqueçam Steve Jobs. ESTE SIM foi um cara que DE VERDADE mudou o mundo.
TODO firmware é feito em C. Sistemas Linux, Apple, Microsoft, são feitos em C. Pegue um processador qualquer, do sistema de controle de um submarino nuclear a um brinquedo eletrônico. O software que roda nele foi escrito em C.
Aviso à FSP: Pelamordedeus demitam este “repórter” por justa causa. Dizer que A linguagem C “é usada para fazer sites até hoje” é como dizer que a única utilidade do ar que respiramos é encher bexigas.
Rest in Piece, Dear Sir. There would be no Apple, at least not as we know it, if not for the work of Mr. Ritchie. Even the I-Phone’s OS is based on his work. Too bad he and or his family can’t get a percentage of sales or something.
#include <unistd.h>
int main() {
write(1, “R.I.P.\n”, 7);
}
Dennis,I has been deeply sad since learned the news yesterday. As Jeong said, we miss you not just because we learned/used the stuff you created but feel your gracious,simple and elegant style in everything you do(just as Steve in different field).
Still remember the last time I met you, 2PM, 8/30 at the front door, after the Hurricane Irene. You told me your house lost power so came in to do something; seeing you were using cane, so assisted you back to your car and talked little bit… can not believe 1 month later you go to another world. R.I.P. Miss you and God Bless! – Chen
This is really sad news. UNIX and C are my favorite things in technology. It feels like world had change.
It is truly ia very deeply sadnning moment in our life..life would not have been the way it is if he wold not have created C and changed the world!!!!
I feel the deepest sorrow that the person due to whom i am able to post this ..through this browser…through this laptop through this OS…on this internet….. .all of which have a piece of what he did …is no longer among us…
Dennis Ritchie …we all will miss you for what you did and who you were…
RIP Dennis
Rest in Peace – DMR! Your contributions to the technical community & Society will manifest themselves for years to come…
Dear dmr, rest in peace. You will always be alive in our hearts, as the world will always be using your C and UNIX. We’ll miss you very much. –from India
It is only true to say that today’s programming world owes its existence to you, Sir! Don’t know how the world would have looked like, if not for your inventions – Unix & C.
Rest In Peace, Sir.
R.I.P Dennis Ritchie may you live in peace together with GOD. Thanks for the great art work in the computing world. Thanks to all your contributions to our modern times today. Once again, a terabytes thanks to you.
My real passion for programming emerged with learning C. Powerful and beautiful. For me it is a work of art, and Mr. Ritchie an artist and a great creator. I deeply regret his death.
His work has influenced a vast number of professional developers and has been a GREAT influence on me in particular. His work has shaped our industry. His greatness and legacy will live on.
I pray that his family and friends feel consolation and peace at his passing from this life.
Dennis, thank you and may you rest in peace.
Dr.Dennis Ritchie was a legendary in Computer Programming and in his demise the Digital world lost a giant.
Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore(AP),India
E-mail: anumakonda.jagadeesh@gmail.com
May your soul take rebirth for another technical revolution.
Thank you Dennis for all the contributions to the computing world.
Rest in peace.
Computer language and OS world lost a genius. I still remember 13 yrs. back how much the “C language” book by DR helped me to learn and like C and also to fetch a first job.
Even though I am a nameless engineer in a corner of this world, I firmly believe that he was the true beginner of this innovation era with the C and Unix…
Just read the news and I am sadden to see another one of the technology giants pass away. Without your contributions of UNIX and C who knows where I … and the millions of software engineers … would be today. It is not only the individual contributions from Dennis Ritchie that need to be recognized, we must also recognize his contributions and teamwork with the larger Bell Labs community. Dennis – you will be missed.
I’ve been programming for 35+ years now. For the first 12 years or so, I used various languages, mostly assemblers. Then I learned C, and it has been my main language ever since (even when the extension says .cc, or as derivative Java). And in parallel, Unix has been my environment. So M. Ritchie’s influence on my career has been huge. It’s a big loss (bigger than Apple’s recent loss, altho it didn’t make the news). There is great pride in working for a company that is home to Bell Labs.
I was a member of the UNIX support group, in the 1970′s, and always appreciated the helpful manner in which Dennis approached support issues and his helpful suggestions. And when I returned to Murray Hill in the 1990′s he would say hello when we passed in the hallway. He was part of the excellence that is Bell Labs.
The world has been changed a lot.But in computer world, C and Unix are still the best,they are always been imitated, never been passed.
Thank you, DMR, your work make us different,make yourself be remembered forever.
I was fortunate to have been around the pioneer at Murray Hill, Bell Labs in the mid-80s. I used to see him and his group have lunch at the same table in the cafeteria every day and my colleagues/I used to vie to be close to him/them to hear what new things they were working on in C/Unix. Miss those days.
I am deeply saddened by the loss and pay my humble respects to a giant in the field of Computer Science. RIP Dr. Dennis Ritchie.
Dr.Dennis Ritchie was a legendary in Computer Programming and in his demise the Digital world lost a giant.
Dera Dennis RIP.
I am deeply saddened by the loss and pay my humble respects to a giant in the field of Computer Science. RIP Dr. Dennis Ritchie.
Lovely former Lucent fellow who give me some path on the Human Development/
Simple, Genius and Greatest man of the Century…..I don’t think such person again will take birth
Sholay in Hindi Film Industry can be made only once….
Language like C can be designed only once…
We miss you
Dennis Ritchie, through the Unix operating system and the C language, is one of the guys who made me a computer programmer addict. His contribution to the computer science world is colossal! I want to pay tribute to him on that.
$ echo “Dennis Ritchie” > /dev/heaven
It is very sad to know that Dr. Ritchie has passed away.
He was the great inventor and is ideal of many programmers and computer professionals. Has never make bussiness to his knowledge.
A true dedicated man and scientist, we salute and miss you Dr. Ritchie.
Wow, Dr. Ritchie was and will forever be one of our greatest assets, he will be in the history banks(books/data) forever. RIP OLD MAN, you did great.
向Dennis Ritchie致敬!
A true legend. With his book, I learnt a lot on how to use C language in the most versatile manner.Rest in Peace Dennis..
Dennis Ritchie, through the Unix operating system and the C language, is one of the guys who made me a computer programmer addict.
HAPPY BIRHTDY Mr.DMR
Ritchie was one of the pioneers of computer science, In today pretty much every thing used C. The UNIX
If you’re reading this online then the chances are that the router which connects you to the internet is running a descendant of the software that Ritchie and his colleague Ken Thompson created in 1969
“I’m not picking a winner here, but higher-level ways of instructing machines will continue to occupy more of the center of the stage.” -Mr.DMR
Thank You Mr.DMR
Happ Birthday Mr.DMR