DEV Community: Altair Dev

Dennis Ritchie - A person who founded the digital world

Altair Dev — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 04:18:46 +0000

Every single person in this world owes to this person a "thank you", even if he/she does not know who this man is. Dennis MacAlistair Ritchie (September 9, 1941) was an american computer scientist. He is not like Steve Jobs nor Mark Zuckerberg as he did not became a famous individual appearing in every single newspaper and definitely he did not became one of the richest man on the planet. He worked quietly, practically, humbly yet profoundly. He had exerted such a significant impact on the world of programming and technology, that it is impossible to imagine our today's lives without his inventions.

If you have ever used a smartphone, browsed a website, watched a TV, typed on a laptop, done programming, accessed an Internet or even used an ATM - then you have touched something Dennis Ritchie helped to create.

History of Programming

In 1950s, it was the initial stages of development of programming world, with the first ever computers and programming languages such as Assembly and Fortran being developed and advanced. Everyone was adopting new technological trends as programming was a brand new trend for people that no one was familiar with. In 1960s, as computer programs progressed significantly, world needed some decent operating system and an efficient programming languages, as in those times people were primarily using Assembly, which was extremely sophisticated low-level programming language. It was not portable and mobile, meaning that it was nearly impossible to run programs written in this language in other machines.

Fortunately, Dennis Ritchie, while working in Bell Labs in the early 1970s, came up with an idea: "What if I invent my comprehensive operating system that solves every single problem the world is facing right now?". In order to implement his idea, Dennis needed a strong programming language that could handle his ambitious project. He used the programming language he has created previously called "B" to create a much stronger programming language called "C" (his level of imagination is just another level.... just like mine). Initially, the C programming language was created just to develop a new operating system, but it quickly became a much bigger - something that would later control every single piece of technology.

In his lab, Dennis has spent more than one year, focusing entirely on his ground-breaking project and finally released an operating system, which he called Unix. Now, Unix is the most fundamental software the whole world stands on.

Why Unix Matters a lot?

Nowadays, Iphone, Android, Macos, Linux and other many operating systems are based on Linux. What does that mean?? Well it means a lot:

Almost 100% of smartphones are based on Unix.
Around 30% of computers and laptops are based on Unix.
Almost 100% of the Internet servers are based on Unix (as all web servers run on Linux, which in and of itself is based on Linux).
Every supercomputer is based on Linux.

Ironically, Windows is not based on Unix, as Bill Gates competed a lot with Dennis Ritchie in those times and created his independent operating system.

These numbers are truly mind-blowing...

Why C Matters a lot?

The C programming language currently is quite outdated and most developers tend to skip it for its extreme difficulty and abstraction. Nevertheless, this trend does not make this language useless, as other programming languages that these developers use were written in C: Python, Javascript, C++, C#, Java, Go, Rust, Dart, Kotlin, Swift, PHP - they all have been written in the C programming language, and those are the languages in which nearly all software is being created now. Without C, all those programming languages, and many more, would not exist, meaning that nearly all software in the world would be present.

For example, almost every single website is rendered using HTML, CSS and JavaScript (recently Webassembly has been developed which is a modern alternative for these three technologies). Browser engines that basically enable us to access websites have all been developed in C. Majority of backend web-servers are written in Java, C#, Python and Go, all of which are written in C. Nearly 99.9% of games of any kind is based on C++ programming languages, and C++ has been written in C. Nearly 99.9% of mobile applications, either Android or IOS, has been written in Swift, Kotlin, Java, JavaScript or Dart - all of which are written in C.

So you got the point right?! This list can go on and on. These statistics vividly show how significant the C programming language truly is.

Lessons to be learned

In an age of hype, frameworks, and rapid obsolescence, Ritchie’s work stands as a monument to enduring value.

Here’s what we can learn from him:

Simplicity scales. Complexity breaks.
Build tools, not just products. Empower others.
Write for humans first, machines second.
Portability > Performance (in the long run).
Legacy is not measured in lines of code — but in minds changed and systems inspired.

Conclusion

Dennis Ritchie died in October 12th 2011 at the age of 70. From this article, I hope you got the point that Dennis Ritchie is literally everywhere. He has influenced the world of programming so considerably, and yet he asked nothing in return. He lived his normal life, enjoyed spending time with his loved ones and continued to shatter the tech industry with his work.

We live in a world that celebrates disruptors, founders, and CEOs. But true progress — the kind that lasts centuries — is often made by the quiet ones. The ones who build the foundations. The ones who write the manuals. The ones who care more about elegance than ego.

Dennis Ritchie was one of those people.

Thank you, Dennis.

For C. For Unix. For clarity. For simplicity.

For building the world we live in — without needing to own it.

What I learned after solving 100 Leetcode Problems

Altair Dev — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 15:22:52 +0000

In June 1st, 2026 - the first day of summer, I decided to make an incredible challenge: To solve 100 Leetcode problems. This was such an incredible decision of mine, as its medium difficulty was enough to keep me motivated throughout the whole challenge. I basically spent my whole days grinding leetcode problems, so my goal became to finish them all as soon as possible. Furthermore, I made a full recap of my journey on Youtube, check that out if it is interesting. For my roadmap, I decided to stick to Neetcode's curated roadmap for handling "Data Structures and Algorithms" topics.

Within 4 days, I managed to successfully complete this challenge and solve 100 Leetcode problems, which became an incredible milestone for me. In this article, I want to share 4 lessons I learned during this challenge, that are truly priceless and that will undoubtedly help you in your academic growth.

1. Patterns Matter More Than Individual Solutions

After 100 problems, I noticed that roughly 60% share core patterns. Mastering fundamentals like two-pointers, sliding window, arrays, binary search and basic dynamic programming unlocks many others, as every complex algorithm is directly linked to many less complex ones.

Don't memorize exact code - internalize the approach. For example:

Many string/array problems reduce to hash maps or sorting.
Tree/graph traversals often follow the same recursive or iterative templates. Once you master the core patterns of each algorithm or problem type, you will be able to solve majority of problems in the same category.

2. Start with Brute Force, Then Optimize

A common trap is overthinking the optimal solution from the start. From the first try, it will not be easy to implement the best and the most optimal solution. Therefore, prioritize creating the most naive working solution first, which you can optimize and improve later on.

3. Review Solutions and Others' Code Constantly

Never skip the editorial. After solving the problem do not move on to the next one instantly. Study multiple high-voted solutions in different languages and read other develops' code. By doing this, I basically broadened my horizon, learned different strategies of writing clean code and implementing an algorithm and exposed myself to cleaner techniques.

4. Easy Problems Are Underrated

Everyone might think that Easy problems do not worth paying attention and tend to skip most of them. But that is wrong. Easy problems actually reinforce your fundamentals - analyzing runtime complexity, basic data structures, math tricks and clean coding. Many medium and hard problems build directly on them. Do not feel ashamed of grinding Easy problems; they will eventually pay off.

In conclusion, solving 100 problems definitely did not make me a genius, but it made me significantly better at breaking down problems, writing cleaner code, staying calm under time constraints and problem solving. These abilities are now helping me considerably to write better code every single day in my daily projects.

If you are just starting, keep going, do not stop - the first 20-30 problems are the hardest ones. By 100, you will look back and be amazed at how far you have come.

What about you? What is your biggest takeaway so far from Leetcode? What is your current Leetcode level? Let's collaborate and learn programming together!

Why Building Projects Taught Me More Than Any Course

Altair Dev — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 12:27:24 +0000

When I started learning programming, I followed the obvious path:

Take courses → Finish them → Become a good developer.

It made perfect sense. There were thousands of high-quality courses taught by experienced developers. I watched videos, took detailed notes, coded along, and felt productive with every completed module.

But after finishing several courses, I hit a wall. I could explain concepts in isolation, yet I froze when facing a blank editor. I knew what a Flask route was. I understood databases in theory. I could define authentication. But actually building something from scratch felt overwhelming.

That’s when I learned a hard truth:

Courses teach you concepts. Projects teach you development.

The Difference Between Following and Creating

A course is like walking through a city with an expert guide. They choose the route, point out the landmarks, and handle the obstacles. Your only job is to follow.

Building a real project is completely different. There’s no guide. You’re on your own, making dozens of decisions:

How should I structure this application?
Which tech stack fits best?
How do I design the database schema?
What’s the best authentication approach?
How will I handle errors and edge cases?
How do I make this scalable and maintainable?

There’s rarely one “correct” answer. You start thinking like an engineer instead of a student copying code. This shift from passive learning to active decision-making is where real growth begins.

Debugging: The Best Teacher I Never Wanted

Courses rarely prepare you for the reality of broken code. In tutorials, everything works perfectly by the end of the video. In your own projects, things break constantly — often in mysterious ways.

I’ve spent hours (sometimes days) debugging issues like:

Routes that worked in development but failed in production
Database queries that returned unexpected results
Authentication flows that suddenly stopped working
APIs returning cryptic error messages

At first, these moments were incredibly frustrating. Over time, I realized they were gold. Every bug forced me to:

Read documentation carefully
Understand error messages deeply
Experiment with different solutions
Learn how the technology actually works under the hood

I’ve learned more from fixing one stubborn bug than from multiple video lessons combined.

Projects Ruthlessly Exposed My Knowledge Gaps

Courses often create a dangerous illusion of competence. You finish a module and feel like you “get it.” A project destroys that illusion immediately.

When I started building, I discovered I didn’t understand databases as well as I thought. My grasp of authentication was superficial. My code organization turned into spaghetti as soon as the project grew beyond a few files.

These realizations weren’t discouraging — they were incredibly useful. They gave me a clear, prioritized learning roadmap. Instead of studying topics randomly, I could focus on exactly what I needed to solve the problems in front of me.

Projects Connect the Dots

Most courses teach topics in isolation:

One course on databases
Another on APIs
Another on authentication
Yet another on deployment

Real applications require everything to work together. When you build a project, you suddenly see how all these pieces interact:

Backend logic
Database design
User authentication & authorization
API development
Error handling & logging
Version control
Deployment and monitoring

This holistic understanding is almost impossible to gain from courses alone.

You End Up With Something Real

At the end of a course, you have… a completed course.

At the end of a project, you have something tangible: a working application. A portfolio piece. A tool you can actually use. Something you can deploy, share, write about, and show to others.

Whether it’s a REST API, a blog platform, a task manager, or a completely original idea — it becomes proof of your skills and a milestone in your journey.

Courses Still Matter — They’re Just Not the Destination

This isn’t an argument against courses. They’re excellent for learning fundamentals, exploring new technologies, and getting a structured introduction to complex topics. I still take courses regularly.

The key difference is how I use them now: as a starting point, not the finish line. I learn the basics from a course, then immediately close the videos and try to apply them in a personal project.

Final Advice: Start Building Before You Feel Ready

If you’re learning to code right now, here’s my strongest recommendation:

Don’t wait until you feel “ready.” Start building something.

It doesn’t need to be impressive or original. It just needs to be yours. Some ideas to get started:

A personal website or blog
A todo app with user accounts
A simple CRUD application (inventory tracker, recipe manager, etc.)
A clone of a site you use (Reddit, Twitter, etc.) with limited features

You will get stuck. You will write terrible code. You will spend hours debugging things that seem obvious in hindsight.

That discomfort? That’s the sound of you actually becoming a developer.

Courses give you knowledge.

Projects give you experience.

Together, they turn you from someone who knows about programming into someone who can actually build things.

So close the course tab, open your editor, and start building. The best lessons are waiting on the other side of that blank file.