Jeff Atwood | |
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![]() Jeff Atwood in 2008 | |
Born | 1970 (age 54–55) [1] [2] |
Alma mater | University of Virginia |
Occupation(s) | Software developer, writer |
Known for | Coding Horror (blog), Stack Overflow, Stack Exchange [3] |
Jeff Atwood (born 1970) is an American software developer, author, blogger, and entrepreneur. He co-founded the question-and-answer network Stack Exchange, which contains the Stack Overflow website for computer programming questions. [4] He is the owner and writer of the computer programming blog Coding Horror, focused on programming and human factors. [5] As of 2012, his most recent project was Discourse, an open source Internet discussion platform. [3]
In a 2007 blog post, Atwood proposed the following rule related to the rule of least power, calling it Atwood's law: [6] "Any application that can be written in JavaScript, will eventually be written in JavaScript". [7]
Atwood started a programming blog, Coding Horror, in 2004. As a result, he met Joel Spolsky. [8] In 2008, together with Spolsky, Atwood founded Stack Overflow, a programming question-and-answer website. [9] The site was followed by Server Fault for system administrators and Super User for general computer-related questions, eventually becoming the Stack Exchange network which includes many Q&A websites about topics decided on by the community. [10]
From 2008 to 2014, Atwood and Spolsky published a weekly podcast covering the progress on Stack Exchange and a wide range of software development issues. Jeff Atwood was also a keynote presenter at the 2008 Canadian University Software Engineering Conference. [11]
In February 2012, Atwood left Stack Exchange so he could spend more time with his family. [12]
On February 5, 2013, Atwood announced his new company, Civilized Discourse Construction Kit, Inc. Its flagship product is an open source next-generation discussion platform called Discourse. [13] Atwood and others developed it out of their frustration with current bulletin board software that hadn't seemed to evolve since 1990. [14] On February 1, 2023, he stepped down as CEO and assumed the role of Executive Chairman. [15]
He also launched a mechanical keyboard called CODE in 2013. [16]
In 2021, Stack Overflow was sold to Prosus for $1.8 billion. [17] [18]
In January 2025, Atwood announced one million dollar gifts to eight non-profit organizations, [18] [19] including The Trevor Project, an organization dedicated to suicide prevention and crisis intervention for LGBTQ+ youth. [20] In addition, Children’s Hunger Fund, First Generation Investors, Global Refuge, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, PEN America, Planned Parenthood, and Team Rubicon received donations from Atwood and his family. [18] [19] [20]
Atwood and his family have contributed to Alameda Post and the Alameda Food Bank. [18]
Atwood donated $1.5 million to 404 Media, a nonprofit news site. [18]
Atwood is a resident of Alameda, California. [18] He and his partner, Betsy Burton, have three kids. [18]
I propose a corollary to this rule [the rule of least power], which ... I'll call Atwood's Law: any application that can be written in JavaScript, will eventually be written in JavaScript.