Ned Batchelder is a special sort of 'hero' to me. He was one of the first programmers I had professional contact with (via #python on Freenode), and I largely credit him for "breaking me in". I learned a lot from him, and not just in terms of technical skills. Ned demonstrated by his actions how a contentious programmer should behave, both socially and professionally.
I don't think I ever told him - in fact, I'm somewhat just starting to realize it now myself - but Ned has been my yardstick. I've aspired to match his technical prowess, his patience and tolerance in answering any question, and his gentle strength as a leader.
Eric Raymond ("Cathedral and the Bazaar") for his work in open source, and for being one of the few to write virtually "finished" software - fetchmail.
Donald Knuth ("The Art of Computer Programming") for creating some of the most brilliant algorithms.
Guido van Rossum, for inventing Python, my favorite language.
Robert Nystrom, one of the most brilliant (and funny) modern programming guide writers today.
Mitch Kapor - not a "coder" in many senses of the term, but a software genius nonetheless. Invented Lotus 3-2-1 (the world's first computer spreadsheet). Also the subject of "Dreaming in Code", as he ran the ambitious (if fated) Chandler project.
Long term Java backend developer interested in microservices, DevOps, mobile dev, game dev, photography, sound design, synthesizers, photography, drawing, habits formation and podcasts.
Location
Porto, Portugal
Work
Senior Consultant/Engineer at Altran Portugal (part of Capgemini)
Yeah, it's quite a tough question to ask! Thanks for reminding me of Donald Knuth. Had so much fun (kind of :-)) while in college studying his books. Learned a lot, sure.
For the record, Lotus was in fact the first spreadsheet software for Apple... but it's actually VisiCalc which was the very first software of that kind. ;)
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It's hard to pick one. However...
Ned Batchelder is a special sort of 'hero' to me. He was one of the first programmers I had professional contact with (via
#pythonon Freenode), and I largely credit him for "breaking me in". I learned a lot from him, and not just in terms of technical skills. Ned demonstrated by his actions how a contentious programmer should behave, both socially and professionally.I don't think I ever told him - in fact, I'm somewhat just starting to realize it now myself - but Ned has been my yardstick. I've aspired to match his technical prowess, his patience and tolerance in answering any question, and his gentle strength as a leader.
By the way, you should totally check out Ned's blog.
I must mention a few other heroes:
Eric Raymond ("Cathedral and the Bazaar") for his work in open source, and for being one of the few to write virtually "finished" software - fetchmail.
Donald Knuth ("The Art of Computer Programming") for creating some of the most brilliant algorithms.
Guido van Rossum, for inventing Python, my favorite language.
Robert Nystrom, one of the most brilliant (and funny) modern programming guide writers today.
Mitch Kapor - not a "coder" in many senses of the term, but a software genius nonetheless. Invented Lotus 3-2-1 (the world's first computer spreadsheet). Also the subject of "Dreaming in Code", as he ran the ambitious (if fated) Chandler project.
Yeah, it's quite a tough question to ask! Thanks for reminding me of Donald Knuth. Had so much fun (kind of :-)) while in college studying his books. Learned a lot, sure.
For the record, Lotus was in fact the first spreadsheet software for Apple... but it's actually VisiCalc which was the very first software of that kind. ;)