Thread: TOP C programmers in the world?

  1. #1
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    TOP C programmers in the world?

    Do you have any idea where I can find a possible list about the above question? Or what you will list as TOP 10 C programmers in the world?

    Brian Kernighan, Dennis Ritchie, Ken Thompson, Bill Joy, Jamie Zawinski etc...

    I think it is a good question to have many possible answers

    Have a good one!

  2. #2
    spurious conceit MK27's Avatar
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    Larry Wall
    Richard M. Stallman
    Bram Moolenaar
    Linus Torvalds

    Only 1 more to go and your list is finished. Probably Bill Gates was mostly a C programmer, but I ain't voting for that geek.
    Last edited by MK27; 03-19-2010 at 11:52 AM.
    C programming resources:
    GNU C Function and Macro Index -- glibc reference manual
    The C Book -- nice online learner guide
    Current ISO draft standard
    CCAN -- new CPAN like open source library repository
    3 (different) GNU debugger tutorials: #1 -- #2 -- #3
    cpwiki -- our wiki on sourceforge

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    Thank You! But I have heard that Jamie Zawinski should be in that list too But you know more than me... so you're probably right!

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    Officially An Architect brewbuck's Avatar
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    The top C programmers are the people writing the software you have never heard of, and will never hear of, because it is so ubiquitous and never fails.
    Code:
    //try
    //{
    	if (a) do { f( b); } while(1);
    	else   do { f(!b); } while(1);
    //}

  5. #5
    C++ Witch laserlight's Avatar
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    How do you even rank expert C programmers to begin with? Skill? Fame? Usage of their software?
    Quote Originally Posted by Bjarne Stroustrup (2000-10-14)
    I get maybe two dozen requests for help with some sort of programming or design problem every day. Most have more sense than to send me hundreds of lines of code. If they do, I ask them to find the smallest example that exhibits the problem and send me that. Mostly, they then find the error themselves. "Finding the smallest program that demonstrates the error" is a powerful debugging tool.
    Look up a C++ Reference and learn How To Ask Questions The Smart Way

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    Give an example brewbuck

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    spurious conceit MK27's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by c_lady View Post
    Thank You! But I have heard that Jamie Zawinski should be in that list too But you know more than me... so you're probably right!
    He was in your first five. He also has a much more technically savy homepage than my four, altho it contains no human readable information (wikipedia reveals he now makes his living as a niteclub owner in SF). Apparently C hackers pride themselves on their complete lack of interest in web-dev:

    Jamie Z.
    Linus T.
    Bram M.
    Larry W.
    Brian K.
    Dennis R.
    Ken T.
    Richard S.

    Could not find a homepage for Bill Joy (co-founder of Sun).

    Quote Originally Posted by laserlight View Post
    How do you even rank expert C programmers to begin with? Skill? Fame? Usage of their software?
    Judging by the photos, perhaps the volume of their Very Large Gray Beards...but probably my criteria was influence and legacy. I don't know how relevant the concept of "skills" is going to be at the "top ten" level, assume they are all supremely skilled: you also have to accomplish something of public significance (sorry brewbuck) since otherwise you could just say the best chefs, or the best guitar players, or whatever, are actually people no one has ever heard of. Maybe, but pretty boring to contemplate.
    Last edited by MK27; 03-19-2010 at 12:51 PM.
    C programming resources:
    GNU C Function and Macro Index -- glibc reference manual
    The C Book -- nice online learner guide
    Current ISO draft standard
    CCAN -- new CPAN like open source library repository
    3 (different) GNU debugger tutorials: #1 -- #2 -- #3
    cpwiki -- our wiki on sourceforge

  8. #8
    C++ Witch laserlight's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by c_lady
    i.e. skills
    Then that becomes very difficult to quantify, due to the broad range of applications for C. There are probably certain areas where C is used in which all those who have been named in this thread are merely mediocre.
    Quote Originally Posted by Bjarne Stroustrup (2000-10-14)
    I get maybe two dozen requests for help with some sort of programming or design problem every day. Most have more sense than to send me hundreds of lines of code. If they do, I ask them to find the smallest example that exhibits the problem and send me that. Mostly, they then find the error themselves. "Finding the smallest program that demonstrates the error" is a powerful debugging tool.
    Look up a C++ Reference and learn How To Ask Questions The Smart Way

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    I messed up my above post, sorry! I do agree with MK27 and you laserlight is not easy to count them from "skills" point of view.

    Thanks for your kind replies especially to you MK27!

  10. #10
    Reverse Engineer maxorator's Avatar
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    Actually, the question should be phrased more like - top programmers that use C, since the language is just a syntax, the real skill is pretty much language independent.
    "The Internet treats censorship as damage and routes around it." - John Gilmore

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    Brian Kernighan, Dennis Ritchie may have designed the language but has their actual skill level in real commercial/industrial workplace been tested? Ditto for some of the others.

    I agree with laserlight that fame, usage, notoriety of one particular program, etc., are not accurate indicators of skill.

  12. #12
    spurious conceit MK27's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by nonoob View Post
    I agree with laserlight that fame, usage, notoriety of one particular program, etc., are not accurate indicators of skill.
    I agree with laserlight too altho we seem to have understood her in different ways, since I disagree with this. It is hard to understand the sense in which someone who is single handedly responsible for a major concrete achievement in the history of software (C, gcc, linux, perl) would not be "accurately" considered a skilled programmer.

    I think some of the "top coder" sites that are around -- where skill is defined as the ability to implement an algorithm in a way that performs faster -- is a pretty good standard. And, following maxorator, these are often language independent (usually a C/C++ entry wins anyway). But I would not give my "top 10 in the world" medals simply to people who won contests that way. I think you have to have a historical significance to count as that, which would be highly coincident with fame, notoriety, etc.

    So, while the "actual skill level in [a] real commercial/industrial workplace" of Kerrigan and Ritchie obviously has been tested (in the sense that they were working for Bell Labs...), it is not so relevant as the fact that they designed the language which 40 years later is still winning "top coder" speed contests.
    Last edited by MK27; 03-19-2010 at 04:44 PM.
    C programming resources:
    GNU C Function and Macro Index -- glibc reference manual
    The C Book -- nice online learner guide
    Current ISO draft standard
    CCAN -- new CPAN like open source library repository
    3 (different) GNU debugger tutorials: #1 -- #2 -- #3
    cpwiki -- our wiki on sourceforge

  13. #13
    Registered User UltraKing227's Avatar
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    there cant be a top C\C++ programmer in the world, not even a list of them.
    its only factor isnt Fame, Coding Skills, Programs made. there are atleast two
    hundred factors, the reason it is hard to create a Top C programmers list
    is that everyday, a programmer gets in the list and replaces another. i hope
    this is clear.

  14. #14
    Linguistic Engineer... doubleanti's Avatar
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    How do you even rank expert C programmers to begin with? Skill? Fame? Usage of their software?
    If usage is up for grabs then that folk who wrote Hello World, they've got to be up there eh?
    hasafraggin shizigishin oppashigger...

  15. #15
    spurious conceit MK27's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by doubleanti View Post
    If usage is up for grabs then that folk who wrote Hello World, they've got to be up there eh?
    According to the uncyclopedia, Bill Gates did write Hello World originally. So maybe he really is the "secret 10th" top C coder in history:

    Hello World - Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia
    Last edited by MK27; 03-20-2010 at 09:22 PM.
    C programming resources:
    GNU C Function and Macro Index -- glibc reference manual
    The C Book -- nice online learner guide
    Current ISO draft standard
    CCAN -- new CPAN like open source library repository
    3 (different) GNU debugger tutorials: #1 -- #2 -- #3
    cpwiki -- our wiki on sourceforge

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