Walter Bright | |
|---|---|
 Bright at ACCU 2009 | |
| Born | March 10, 1959 |
| Education | Caltech (BS, 1979) |
| Known for | D (programming language) Empire |
| Spouse | Trish Bright [1] |
| Website | walterbright |
Walter G. Bright (born March 10, 1959) is an American computer programmer who created the D programming language, [2] [3] the Zortech C++ compiler, and the Empire computer game.
Bright is the son of the United States Air Force pilot Charles D. Bright. [4] [5] He taught himself computer programming from the type-in programs in BASIC Computer Games . [6]
Bright graduated from Caltech in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Aeronautical Engineering. [7] [8] While at university he wrote the Empire wargame for the PDP-10 mainframe, completing it in 1977. [9]
Bright wrote Mattel Intellivision games while at Caltech, then worked as a mechanical engineer after graduation. After learning C in the early 1980s he ported Empire to the IBM PC, stating that C "might as well have been called EIL, for 'Empire Implementation Language.'" [9] Bright developed the Datalight C compiler, also sold as Zorland C and later Zortech C. [10]
Bright was the main developer of the Zortech C++ compiler (later Symantec C++, now Digital Mars C++), which was the first C++ compiler to translate source code directly to object code without using C as an intermediate. [11]
Bright is the creator of the D programming language. He has implemented compilers for several other languages, and is considered an expert in many areas related to compiler technology. [12] Walter regularly writes scientific and magazine articles about compilers and programming [13] and was a blogger for Dr. Dobb's Journal . [14]
Around 2014, Bright wrote Warp, a fast C/C++ preprocessor written in D, for Facebook. [15] [16] [2]
In computer programming, a macro is a rule or pattern that specifies how a certain input should be mapped to a replacement output. Applying a macro to an input is known as macro expansion. The input and output may be a sequence of lexical tokens or characters, or a syntax tree. Character macros are supported in software applications to make it easy to invoke common command sequences. Token and tree macros are supported in some programming languages to enable code reuse or to extend the language, sometimes for domain-specific languages.
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Andrei Alexandrescu is a Romanian-American C++ and D language programmer and author. He is particularly known for his pioneering work on policy-based design implemented via template metaprogramming. These ideas are articulated in his book Modern C++ Design and were first implemented in his programming library, Loki. He also implemented the "move constructors" concept in his MOJO library. He contributed to the C/C++ Users Journal under the byline "Generic<Programming>".
Dr. Dobb's Journal (DDJ) was a monthly magazine published in the United States by UBM Technology Group, part of UBM. It covered topics aimed at computer programmers. When launched in 1976, DDJ was the first regular periodical focused on microcomputer software, rather than hardware. In its last years of publication, it was distributed as a PDF monthly, although the principal delivery of Dr. Dobb's content was through the magazine's website. Publication ceased at the end of 2014, with the archived website continuing to be available online.
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Scott Douglas Meyers is an American author and software consultant, specializing in the C++ computer programming language. He is known for his Effective C++ book series. During his career, he was a frequent speaker at conferences and trade shows.
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Digital Mars is a small American software company owned by Walter Bright and based in Vienna, Virginia. It makes C, C++, and D compilers, and associated utilities such as an integrated development environment (IDE) for Windows and DOS, which Digital Mars calls an integrated development and debugging environment (IDDE).
Cobra is a discontinued general-purpose, object-oriented programming language. Cobra is designed by Charles Esterbrook, and runs on the Microsoft .NET and Mono platforms. It is strongly influenced by Python, C#, Eiffel, Objective-C, and other programming languages. It supports both static and dynamic typing. It has support for unit tests and contracts. It has lambda expressions, closures, list comprehensions, and generators.
James George Mitchell is a Canadian computer scientist. He has worked on programming language design and implementation, interactive programming systems, dynamic interpreting and compiling, document preparing systems, user interface design, distributed transactional file systems, and distributed, object-oriented operating systems. He has also worked on the design of hardware for computer graphics, high-level programming language execution, and audio input/output.
In C++ computer programming, allocators are a component of the C++ Standard Library. The standard library provides several data structures, such as list and set, commonly referred to as containers. A common trait among these containers is their ability to change size during the execution of the program. To achieve this, some form of dynamic memory allocation is usually required. Allocators handle all the requests for allocation and deallocation of memory for a given container. The C++ Standard Library provides general-purpose allocators that are used by default, however, custom allocators may also be supplied by the programmer.
In the C++ programming language, decltype is a keyword used to query the type of an expression. Introduced in C++11, its primary intended use is in generic programming, where it is often difficult, or even impossible, to express types that depend on template parameters.
In C++ computer programming, copy elision refers to a compiler optimization technique that eliminates unnecessary copying of objects.
The Dr. Dobb's Excellence in Programming Award was an annual prize given to individuals who, in the opinion of the editors of Dr. Dobb's Journal, "made significant contributions to the advancement of software development." The Excellence in Programming Award includes a $1,000 prize that was donated in the award winner's name to a charity of the winner's choice. The award was launched in 1995 in the print edition of Dr. Dobb's Journal and was given each year until 2009. In his March 1995 article introducing the awards, then editor-in-chief Jonathan Erickson wrote that the award was intended to recognize "achievement and excellence in the field of computer programming." Erickson explained that the winners were "selected by a special editorial committee" of the magazine. Because Dr. Dobb's serves an audience of software developers, the Excellence in Programming Award is specifically intended to recognize resources for programmers: languages, code libraries, tutorial books, and so on. Developers of shrinkwrap software intended for retail sale, custom software for corporate use, embedded software, or general-purpose applications were not considered for the award.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to C++: