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Dennis Ritchie RIP

[Posted October 13, 2011 by corbet]

Via Rob Pike we learn that Dennis Ritchie has passed away. He laid the foundations for much of what we are doing now, and will be much missed.
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Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 3:01 UTC (Thu) by anamana (guest, #2787) [Link]

As one of the founders of Unix, and more importantly the philosophy unix embodied, Dennis Ritchie has an echo in practically every company and technology in use around the world today.

Time (epoch-seconds) starts on 1/1/1970 for a reason.

Salute!

Dennis Ritchie RIP your legacy...

Posted Oct 13, 2011 13:12 UTC (Thu) by shylock_1 (guest, #80769) [Link]

... I admired true sense in those words a profound tribute to Denis M Richie, we all build our success on his hard work a real foundation, an indeed mountainous achievement by Denis; remain permanent outpost for every new comer, developer and computer technology enthusiast. HE the MAN who shown the inner working. He will be always be Hello ....

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

int main()
{

printf("\033[2J\033[;H"); /* Clear the screen */

printf("\nHello World -- by DM Richie\n");
printf("Your legacy remain radiant, an emanating lights for those\n");
printf("New and young developer and an old timers those pass through\");
printf("your ERA - Denis M Richie.\n\n");

/* exit */
return (EXIT_SUCCESS);
}

/*********************
Rest in Peace.
**********************/

Dennis Ritchie RIP your legacy...

Posted Oct 13, 2011 15:11 UTC (Thu) by nix (subscriber, #2304) [Link]

It is probably better to try to spell the man's name right on his own digital monument. (It's "Dennis".)

Dennis Ritchie RIP your legacy...

Posted Oct 13, 2011 16:58 UTC (Thu) by jengelh (subscriber, #33263) [Link]

Your "int main()" makes me want to point to www.slideshare.net/olvemaudal/deep-c

Dennis Ritchie RIP your legacy...

Posted Oct 13, 2011 18:37 UTC (Thu) by HelloWorld (guest, #56129) [Link]

Why? int main() is fine in C99 (and it even says to in those slides).

Dennis Ritchie RIP your legacy...

Posted Oct 14, 2011 1:55 UTC (Fri) by galanom (guest, #80787) [Link]

It is illegal in C11 however.

Dennis Ritchie RIP your legacy...

Posted Oct 14, 2011 3:28 UTC (Fri) by HelloWorld (guest, #56129) [Link]

> It is illegal in C11 however.
No it's not, at least not in the current draft. Section 6.7.6.3, paragraph 14:

"An empty list in a function declarator that is part of a de&#64257;nition of that function speci&#64257;es that the function has no parameters."

Dennis Ritchie RIP your legacy...

Posted Oct 14, 2011 21:45 UTC (Fri) by jengelh (subscriber, #33263) [Link]

IIRC, the standard demanded that main be one of two signatures: int main(void) or int main(int, char **) only. That would be in line with page 24's "you should use int main(void) - because the standard says so", provided the PDF is right.

Dennis Ritchie RIP your legacy...

Posted Oct 17, 2011 11:50 UTC (Mon) by jwakely (subscriber, #60262) [Link]

An empty list in a function declarator that is part of a definition of that function specifies that the function has no parameters.
i.e. In a function definition (as opposed to a prototype) int main() is the same as int main(void) and so is correct.

Dennis Ritchie RIP your legacy...

Posted Oct 14, 2011 16:32 UTC (Fri) by tjc (guest, #137) [Link]

On a more pragmatic level, gcc -Wall doesn't complain about main(). If it's good enough for -Wall, then it's good enough for me. ;)

Dennis Ritchie RIP your legacy...

Posted Oct 14, 2011 16:41 UTC (Fri) by HelloWorld (guest, #56129) [Link]

I disagree. I think that -Wall should print many more warnings than it does.

Dennis Ritchie RIP your legacy...

Posted Oct 15, 2011 11:37 UTC (Sat) by da4089 (subscriber, #1195) [Link]

+1 -Wextra

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 3:33 UTC (Thu) by Baylink (guest, #755) [Link]

Happy landings, dmr.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 4:00 UTC (Thu) by jcm (subscriber, #18262) [Link]

Wow. Truly a very sad day.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 4:36 UTC (Thu) by surajvijayan (guest, #17740) [Link]

I picked up K&R "The C programming Language" over 20 years ago. I, like many developers owe immensely to Dennis, not an exaggeration to say this book has been life changing for me.

RIP Dennis..

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 11:22 UTC (Thu) by jamesmrh2 (guest, #31680) [Link]

Pretty much the same story for me. I don't know if I would have been a programmer if I didn't pick up that book.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 12:07 UTC (Thu) by nix (subscriber, #2304) [Link]

Even those of us who started with BASIC and Pascal... once C came into our ambit it was rarely if ever displaced. The others are learning languages. C is a *real* language.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 15:08 UTC (Thu) by Baylink (guest, #755) [Link]

A large part of the reason, IMHO?

How many versions of C are there? 2? Maybe 3? In 3 and a half decades?

How many versions of Your Favorite Programming Language are there? :-}

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 15:12 UTC (Thu) by nix (subscriber, #2304) [Link]

2. Maybe 3. In three and a half decades. :)

Other languages are all very well, and many of them are very nice, but none ever quite manages to knock C off its perch.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 18:51 UTC (Thu) by HelloWorld (guest, #56129) [Link]

> Other languages are all very well, and many of them are very nice, but none ever quite manages to knock C off its perch.
While that is true, it doesn't mean C is a great language. Actually, I think it should have died a gory death 20 years ago. Unfortunately, it is too entrenched among systems programmers today to ever be replaced :(

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 20:53 UTC (Thu) by drag (guest, #31333) [Link]

I don't see why. C is what C is and it's good at what it does that it is good at.

Tautologic

Posted Oct 14, 2011 1:36 UTC (Fri) by man_ls (guest, #15091) [Link]

The same can be said about every other language, or about anything in fact! Tell you something, I have programmed using about a dozen languages now, and if I were to go back to C I would miss functional programming and (proper) objects a lot. But the heritage (from the syntax to so many ideas) is truly remarkable.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 14, 2011 1:59 UTC (Fri) by galanom (guest, #80787) [Link]

I think it is improper to post such a comment in the thread of the announcement of the death of its creator.

And yes, C is a great language. The only thing I miss from other languages is nested functions...

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 14, 2011 3:31 UTC (Fri) by HelloWorld (guest, #56129) [Link]

> The only thing I miss from other languages is nested functions...
Then you either don't know enough other programming languages or you're just a really poor programmer.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 14, 2011 6:33 UTC (Fri) by bronson (subscriber, #4806) [Link]

WTF. Go pick fights somewhere else OK?

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 14, 2011 6:44 UTC (Fri) by chad.netzer (subscriber, #4257) [Link]

Must you really pick this thread to be so antagonistic in? Perhaps you could simply take galanom's *opinion* at face value.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 14, 2011 7:34 UTC (Fri) by acooks (subscriber, #49539) [Link]

Trolling on LWN? Really?

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 15:21 UTC (Thu) by Wol (subscriber, #4433) [Link]

FORTRAN IV
Fortran 77
Fortran 90

Is there another later one?

But it seems like the old ones are still the best ones. (Oh, and I think there's only been one version of eg Forth, Smalltalk, and so on, but they're extensible (and extended till they're unrecognisable :-))

Cheers,
Wol

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 17:01 UTC (Thu) by daglwn (guest, #65432) [Link]

Fortran 2003
Fortran 2008

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 16, 2011 3:58 UTC (Sun) by prudra (guest, #80820) [Link]

I think the first Fortran that I used way back in 1968 on a CDC 6800(?) machine was called Fortran II.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 14, 2011 4:13 UTC (Fri) by BenHutchings (subscriber, #37955) [Link]

There are at least:

  1. Unix versions 3-6 (not sure how large the changes were between these)
  2. Unix version 7 / K&R 1st edition
  3. ANSI C89 / ISO C90
  4. ISO C99
  5. ISO C11

But I don't think most C programmers have been much affected by changes after 'ANSI C', even though they are important to some.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 14, 2011 16:44 UTC (Fri) by tjc (guest, #137) [Link]

I recently had to change some code to compile with an older compiler, and the only C99 feature that I found hard to give up is the ability to declare variables anywhere in a block, instead of just at the top. It's easy to get used to that.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 21, 2011 17:19 UTC (Fri) by giraffedata (guest, #1954) [Link]

But I don't think most C programmers have been much affected by changes after 'ANSI C', even though they are important to some.

And they weren't even affected much by ANSI C. How often do you see "const" and bit fields used in C?

Tradition seems to be a big part of the culture of C. In addition to this not embracing new features, I think of tab characters and editor choice. I think that love of tradition accounts for its persistence more than anything.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 21:57 UTC (Thu) by Julie (guest, #66693) [Link]

The others are learning languages. C is a *real* language.

 Quite. When I expressed an interest in learning C, my far more experienced brother told me to learn Pascal first instead. I conceded to his wisdom although I didn't understand why at the time - until I began tackling C...

I really liked Pascal. But I _love_ C.

I don't suppose there will ever be any furore over the passing of Ritchie as there is over Jobs. Says it all, really...

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 14, 2011 21:07 UTC (Fri) by dashesy (guest, #74652) [Link]

I leaned C first, and a friend thought me pascal later when I had to use Delphi. The lengthy begin/end and semicolon separator concept was never appealing, C syntax is so natural and addictive.
I believe C is a better learning language because it is honest, and once you learn C the rest become more enjoyable too.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 15, 2011 0:51 UTC (Sat) by HelloWorld (guest, #56129) [Link]

C syntax is so natural and addictive.
Yeah right. Stuff like void (*signal(int, void (*)(int)))(int); is totally natural. And this is not some random contrived example, but a declaration from the standard library.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 15, 2011 11:12 UTC (Sat) by mpr22 (subscriber, #60784) [Link]

The syntax for declaring objects of pointer-to-function type being a bit hairy does not invalidate the general sentiment, and that particular case (declaring a function with a function-pointer argument and a function-pointer return type) is only a problem because the standards committee declined to set up the obvious typedef.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 15, 2011 16:50 UTC (Sat) by HelloWorld (guest, #56129) [Link]

The syntax for declaring objects of pointer-to-function type being a bit hairy does not invalidate the general sentiment,
It's not only that, the syntax for declaring pointers to arrays suffers the same problem. And what bugs me most about it is that it would have been trivial to fix this: make * a postfix operator and use "i int;" instead of "int i;" for simple declarations. signal then becomes 
signal(*(int) void) *(int) void;
Unfortunately, it's not going to happen :(

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 17, 2011 0:56 UTC (Mon) by ncm (subscriber, #165) [Link]

That's just its FORTRAN heritage.

When familiar element of a new language has stupid syntax, it's unforgivable -- yet they all do, even Go. Old languages get a free pass, because who knew, then? C has bad declaration syntax. LISP has ... well, everything. Yet they are above criticism. They have succeeded where so many others failed. To complain about them only reveals your insecurity.

C and C++ could still be fixed very simply by allowing a postfix dereference operator (in addition to the prefix one). "@" would serve.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 17, 2011 11:45 UTC (Mon) by jwakely (subscriber, #60262) [Link]

auto signal(int, void(*)(int)) -> void(*)(int);

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 17, 2011 13:21 UTC (Mon) by HelloWorld (guest, #56129) [Link]

auto signal(int, void(*)(int)) -> void(*)(int);
Hey, let's be consequent ;) 
 auto signal(int, auto (*)(int)->void) -> auto (*)(int) -> void;

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 19, 2011 8:02 UTC (Wed) by ncm (subscriber, #165) [Link]

That's just its FORTRAN heritage. When some element of a new language is stupid, it's unforgivable -- yet they all have them, even Go. Old languages get a free pass, because who knew, then?

C and C++ could still be fixed very simply by allowing a postfix dereference operator (in addition to the prefix one). @ would serve.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 21, 2011 17:51 UTC (Fri) by giraffedata (guest, #1954) [Link]

C syntax is so natural

I think that's the first time I've heard that claim made; the typical view of C is the opposite: in exchange for density (function per source character) and power to control the object code, C was made awkward.

The first time I saw "typedef int foo" I thought it was backwards and had a hard time remembering it; I still do. It isn't natural. It also isn't natural for an imperative like "a=3" to have a value, which is why it's so easy to stare at 'if (a=3) {printf("a is 3")}' and not see the error.

I wonder what a person's background has to be to find C syntax natural.

I believe C is a better learning language because it is honest, ...

I think "honest" here must mean "low level," i.e. the source code correlates plainly with the object code. If you're trying to learn how to write programs that control the contents of memory, etc., I agree C is the better learning language. If you're trying to learn how to write programs to solve a computational problem, a high level language would be better.

When I learned programming, my teachers went out of their way not to mention CPUs, memory, cycles, addresses, etc. and have me concentrate on generic computation. C would have seriously foiled their efforts.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 13:10 UTC (Thu) by vonbrand (guest, #4458) [Link]

Count me in. His books (starting with "The C Programming Language," first edition) were truly inspiring.

He will be remembered.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 14, 2011 14:40 UTC (Fri) by ViralMehta (guest, #80756) [Link]

And whenever you pick-up his book, you will learn 1 or 2 things new in C... RIP Dennis R.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 17, 2011 15:16 UTC (Mon) by peter_w_morreale (guest, #30066) [Link]

Amen.

I got mine in 1987. It was my second language after Fortran 77. Even without a CS background, its elegance and efficiency was an epiphany that cemented my career in software development,

Thank you Dennis (and Brian, and Rob). Your work has had more far reaching effects that any of you could have imagined.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 5:47 UTC (Thu) by ncm (subscriber, #165) [Link]

He spoke to me once, c.19 years ago, in New Jersey. He said, "Zero".

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 5:51 UTC (Thu) by rodgerd (guest, #58896) [Link]

An *actual* technologist who *actually* changed the world with his creations.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 7:28 UTC (Thu) by carbonnq (guest, #59866) [Link]

Right.

RIP Dennis.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 8:47 UTC (Thu) by arief (guest, #58729) [Link]

comment++ the above

Hmm... C code.
C code run.
Run code run.
Run please run.

Not everyone can be a programmer
Not every programmer can understand C
and even less can create C programming language.

He will be missed and will be eternalized in every for statement we wrote

:)

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 7:06 UTC (Thu) by leemgs (guest, #24528) [Link]

RIP(rest in peace).

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 7:10 UTC (Thu) by JoeF (subscriber, #4486) [Link]

RIP.
Free after Newton: A bunch of people were looking far because they were standing on the shoulders of giants.
Dennis Ritchie was one of those giants.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 8:17 UTC (Thu) by ledow (guest, #11753) [Link]

He once said "UNIX is very simple, it just needs a genius to understand its simplicity."

Unfortunately that genius is with us no more. I'm going to find a UNIX machine today, and knock up some C code just for the sheer enjoyment of it and to remember him.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 8:30 UTC (Thu) by lkundrak (subscriber, #43452) [Link]

Thank you!

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 9:40 UTC (Thu) by dgm (subscriber, #49227) [Link]

Thank you, dmr, for all the quirks and flaws in this C language of yours. Your work changed my life, I cannot be grateful enough.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 11:15 UTC (Thu) by nix (subscriber, #2304) [Link]

And mine. And everyone's.

Is it possible to write C code in remembrance of someone? 'cos that's what I'll be doing for the next few days.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 9:41 UTC (Thu) by richmoore (guest, #53133) [Link]

#include <stdlib.h>

/* Thanks for the most popular programming language ever Dennis. */
int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
}

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 10:49 UTC (Thu) by sorpigal (subscriber, #36106) [Link] 

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
    printf("Goodbye, Dennis\n");
    return 0;
}

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 11:35 UTC (Thu) by csamuel (✭ supporter ✭, #2624) [Link] 

#include <unistd.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

int main(void)
{
    (void) sleep(60);  /* A minutes silence for DMR */
    exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
}

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 9:56 UTC (Thu) by themaheshrs (guest, #80766) [Link]

As a tribute to my "superhero" of computing, I have created an FB page. Please visit it, like it and post your condolences on that page. The page address is: facebook.com/dennismritchie.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 10:54 UTC (Thu) by dan_a (subscriber, #5325) [Link]

RIP. His contributions to the computing world are immeasurable.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 10:58 UTC (Thu) by smokeing (guest, #53685) [Link]

Rest in peace.

I was born in 1973 in what is now Ukraine. Since becoming job-worthy, my wages ever increasingly rest and rely on, ultimately, that book he co-wrote and I chanced to read in early nineties. When defending my PhD, I tried to push one item in my 'stellingen' (that's Dutch for a succinct statement to attest to the laymen taxpayers that my work was worth spending their money), reading: "When admitting new PhD students, only check their proficiency in two languages, English and C; the rest will follow." And I strongly believe it is true.

(In the article, could the editor perhaps replace 'passed on' to 'passed away'?)

Life made easy......Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 12:13 UTC (Thu) by shylock_1 (guest, #80769) [Link]

All the C developer gonna miss him, great inventor. RIP Denis, and condolences to his family.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 13:03 UTC (Thu) by holee (guest, #80770) [Link]

RIP Dennis M. Ritchie. He made everything possible in the computing world, I am so grateful to him.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 14:14 UTC (Thu) by taq (guest, #62595) [Link]

Thanks for all, Dennis. Your contribution with computing cannot - and will not - be forgotten. RIP.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 16:32 UTC (Thu) by jzbiciak (guest, #5246) [Link]

Rest in peace, Dennis.

While I may have moved on to C++ and Perl as my main languages these days, it wasn't before getting 15 or so solid years of C programming under my belt first. I got rescued from Pascal and BASIC in 1992 by K & R's book.

I'll still always wonder if you're the one who wrote this, though.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 17:27 UTC (Thu) by dashesy (guest, #74652) [Link]

Rest in peace, and thanks for C

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 18:38 UTC (Thu) by GhePeU (subscriber, #56133) [Link]

RIP.

It feels like ten years ago, when Shannon died. A man who truly changed the world has died, and most people didn't even realize it.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 20:05 UTC (Thu) by ccchips (subscriber, #3222) [Link]

The C Programming Book was a revelation for me. I will never forget reading that book to and from work on the bus.

Rest in peace, Dennis! I will miss you and all the other great computer scientists who have gone on to bigger things. My sympathy to all his loved-ones.

I wonder if he'd appreciate this -- from someone who's starting to get near the front of the line:

Q. What was the first thing Dennis said after passing on?
A. Oh my - I guess I kicked the bit bucket!

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 13, 2011 21:20 UTC (Thu) by bronson (subscriber, #4806) [Link]

One last cast to void.

I'm Quine To Miss Him

Posted Oct 14, 2011 4:18 UTC (Fri) by ldo (guest, #40946) [Link]

/*Goodbye, Dennis Ritchie*/void main(void){char q=34,n=10;char*s="/*Goodbye, Dennis Ritchie*/void main(void){char q=34,n=10;char*s=%c%s%c;printf(s,q,s,q,n);}%c";printf(s,q,s,q,n);}

I'm Quine To Miss Him

Posted Oct 15, 2011 0:52 UTC (Sat) by HelloWorld (guest, #56129) [Link]

That is not valid C.

I'm Quine To Miss Him

Posted Oct 16, 2011 11:54 UTC (Sun) by jzbiciak (guest, #5246) [Link]

Ugh... void main(void), really?

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 14, 2011 15:03 UTC (Fri) by leoc (guest, #39773) [Link]

Learning C made my career so I owe a lot to Dennis Ritchie. RIP Dennis.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

Posted Oct 20, 2011 15:58 UTC (Thu) by juhl (guest, #33245) [Link]

The achievements, innovations and writings of Dennis have had a huge impact on my professional life and I am very grateful for his contributions.
Losing Dennis is a tragedy. He will be missed.
So long Dennis. You did great!


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