Dennis Ritchie, Creator of C & Unix, Has Passed Away

While much of the tech world was mourning the loss of Steve Jobs last weekend, another pivotal figure in computing also passed away, Dennis Ritchie. Ritchie might not be a household name like Jobs, but his contributions to computing have proven to be some of the most important in history. In addition to being the creator of the C programming language, he also co-developed Unix.

Ritchie’s contributions must not be understated. Almost all programming languages today are either developed in C or another language that builds on its roots. C++, PHP, Java, Python and so forth just wouldn’t exist if not for the creation of C. Windows, Mac OS X and Linux are all written in C or some fork, as are much of the applications you use on your PC, phone and other devices.

Likewise, Unix has proven itself to be one of the most important operating systems ever created. Its first release happened in 1969, long before Windows and Mac OS, and from it a multitude of other OSes have come to be, such as Darwin, BSD and of course, Linux.

Step back for a moment and think about that. What would the world be like without C and Unix? There’s little doubt that there would have been other solutions, but just how far ahead did the creations Ritchie was responsible for push us ahead? If neither of those existed, our 2011 might just feel like 2005 in terms of technological advancement.

Thank you, dmr, for your unbelievable contributions to computing, and rest in peace.