We Lost Another Great One...

It did hasn't received as much attention as the death of Steve Jobs, but another person who had a profound effect on the world of computers died a few days ago.

Dennis Ritchie, of Bell Labs, who along with Ken Thompson, developed the UNIX operating system, was found dead in his home on October 12th.  He was 70.  Ritchie was also the developer of the C programming language.

While Ritchie's death did not receive the attention that Steve Job's did, his contributions are also very significant.  In fact, UNIX was the basis for the NeXT operating system which would evolve into Mac OS X, as well as the model for Linux.


Ritchie had been in ill health in recent years because of prostate cancer and heart disease.,

His web page is here.

Goodbye, Steve....

I got the news on my iPhone.  I was on my way home from classes in Computer Science, and I had pulled it out of my purse to look up something I saw on a sign, and the push notification from AP News popped up on the screen.


Steve Jobs, co-founder, and former CEO, of Apple had passed away.  The news hit me hard.  Over the past few years I have become a major Apple fan girl.  And I came to admire Steve Jobs for all he has done for the world.


About three years ago, I bought an iPod Touch.  I read an article that pointed out how you could do almost anything on it that you can do on a laptop.  While that might be viewed as a bit of an exaggeration, there is truth in that statement.  I didn't realize it, but I had taken the first step towards addiction.


When the iPhone 3GS came out, and they dropped the price on the iPhone 3G, I bought my first iPhone.  I loved my iPod Touch, but I wanted to have access when WiFi was not available.  


Then, I began to think about developing apps for the iPhone.  That would require the purchase of a Mac.  I was eyeing the Macbook, but wound up going for a bit more and buying the Macbook Pro I am typing this on.  Joining the Developer's program, and a large number of books, quickly followed.


By now, I am sure many can see where this is leading...the iPhone 4 arrived, and I upgraded.  A full 32 GB version, of course.  Now I could have all the apps and music I wanted.  


And of course, I had been wanting an iPad, but that was just a bit beyond my reach for while, but I bought one of those as well, the top of the line 64 GB with 3G.  I use it everyday.


And, every Tuesday night, I attend a class in iPhone programming as part of my major in Computer Science.  Apple, and more specifically the genius of Steve Jobs, helped draw me back in to programming.  I had wandered away a few years ago, mainly because of my lack of a degree.  I was self-taught, but that doesn't work these days.  Now I am working on my degree, and my ultimate dream would be to work for Apple.  That, or to teach Computer Science to the next generation of geeks.


But I owe a lot to Steve Jobs.  He will be missed.  It may be a bit trite, but he really did change the world in insanely great ways.

It's Been A Long Time...

Sorry to be so long between posts...but life has been crazy.


I decided to take the plunge and return to school.  I followed by geeky little heart and I am majoring in computer science...and I love it!


During the summer term, I completed a introductory course in C++ programming.  It mostly served as a refresher for me, since we focused on procedural programming and not object oriented.  Now I am continuing with the next course in the series, which will delve more into object orientation.  I am also taking courses in UNIX, Java, and iPhone programming.  My schedule is rounded out with a class for emergency medical responders.  It is primarily for those going into a public safety career (which I have no interest in) but it a) fulfills a graduation requirement, and b) will teach me some really strong first aid skills (and living in San Francisco where we all are waiting on THE BIG ONE that is not a bad thing.  


I realized something...being a student is sort of a natural environment for me.  Or, more specifically, being in an academic environment is.  I have missed this sort of thing.  I love being in class, working on homework, and especially learning new things.


I have been programming for almost forty years.  I wrote my first program in FORTRAN on punch cards in the fall of 1974.  I quickly learned BASIC, and spent several years using a multi-million dollar mainframe as a personal computer before anyone had heard of a personal computer.


Over the years, I moved on to Pascal, C, and other programming languages.  I learned a bit about algorithms, and data structures.  I worked at several jobs as a programmer, and even did some work in hardware design.  But, I was always the one without a degree.  Now, I am formalizing my knowledge.  And I am loving every minute of it.


So, hopefully I will find the time to update things more...besides, Doctor Who returns Saturday, and that is always something to write about.