![Ben Collins-Sussman](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Ben_Collins-Sussman.jpg)
Ben Collins-Sussman is an American software engineer, composer, and author.
He is the co-creator of the
Subversion version control system, co-composer of the musicals ''Eastland'',
and ''Winesburg, Ohio'',
and co-author of two books on software and management.
He co-created two interactive fiction games, ''Rover's Day Out'' and ''Hoosegow''.
Collins-Sussman lives and works in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
.
Software
Collins-Sussman is one of the founding software engineers of the
Subversion version control system,
which was used by 36.9% of developers in the 2015
Stack Overflow
In software, a stack overflow occurs if the call stack pointer exceeds the stack bound. The call stack may consist of a limited amount of address space, often determined at the start of the program. The size of the call stack depends on many facto ...
Developer Survey.
Collins-Sussman co-founded the
Google
Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
Chicago engineering office in 2005,
which employed more than 300 engineers as of 2019.
He is a senior engineering manager leading a team focused on the latency of Google's search engine.
Books
Collins-Sussman is the co-author of the book ''Version Control with Subversion'' along with C. Michael Pilato and Brian Fitzpatrick, published by O'Reilly Media in 2009.
Collins-Sussman and Fitzpatrick co-authored ''Debugging Teams: Better Productivity through Collaboration,'' about managing software development teams, published by O'Reilly Media in 2015.
Musical compositions
In collaboration with
Andre Pluess, Collins-Sussman co-composed the music for two musicals, ''Eastland'' and ''Winesburg, Ohio.''
''Eastland''
''Eastland'' is a musical telling the story of a 1915 disaster in which the passenger ship
SS Eastland
SS ''Eastland'' was a passenger ship based in Chicago and used for tours. On 24 July 1915, the ship rolled over onto its side while tied to a dock in the Chicago River. In total, 844 passengers and crew were killed in what was the largest loss ...
capsized while moored in the
Chicago River
The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of Chicago, including its center (the Chicago Loop). Though not especially long, the river is notable because it is one of the reasons for ...
, killing 844 people.
The musical opened in June 2012 and ran for 9 weeks.
It was produced by the Tony Award-winning
Lookingglass Theatre Company
Lookingglass Theatre Company is a non-profit theater company in Chicago, Illinois.
History
Lookingglass was founded in 1988 by David Schwimmer, David Catlin, Eva Barr, Thom Cox, Lawrence DiStasi, Joy Gregory, David Kersnar, and Andy White. The co ...
and was nominated for four
Joseph Jefferson awards
The Joseph Jefferson Award, more commonly known informally as the Jeff Award, is given for theatre arts produced in the Chicago area. Founded in 1968, the awards are named in tribute to actor Joseph Jefferson, a 19th-century American theater sta ...
.
The reviewer for
''Time'' magazine, Richard Zoglin, wrote, "The elegiac mood, a sense of hard-working, turn-of-the-century Americans betrayed by the American dream, is heightened by the somber, folk-ballad flavor of the music — much of it played (on guitars and violins mostly) onstage by members of the cast."
The ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
'' arts reviewer Chris Jones wrote, "Pluess and
ollins-Sussmanare richly talented songwriters
..whose rootsy melodies understand the musical language of the ordinary Midwesterner."
The Chicago ''
Time Out'' reviewer, Oliver Sava, wrote that the score "evokes
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
''O Brother, Where Art Thou?'' is a 2000 comedy drama film written, produced, co-edited, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. It stars George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson, with Chris Thomas King, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, and ...
and
Ragtime
Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott J ...
, though the lyrics can get heavy-handed."
''Winesburg, Ohio''
''Winesburg, Ohio'' is a musical adaptation of
Sherwood Anderson
Sherwood Anderson (September 13, 1876 – March 8, 1941) was an American novelist and short story writer, known for subjective and self-revealing works. Self-educated, he rose to become a successful copywriter and business owner in Cleveland and ...
's novel, ''Winesburg, Ohio'', about a small American town.
It was developed by Chicago's
About Face Theatre and
Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Chicago theatre company founded in 1974 by Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry, and Gary Sinise in the Unitarian church on Half Day Road in Deerfield, Illinois and is now located in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood on ...
, and produced at Steppenwolf Theatre,
Arden Theatre, and
Kansas City Repertory Theatre.
The Arden Theatre production won five
Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theater in 2005.
The ''Chicago Tribune'' arts reporter Chris Jones wrote that "one is most struck by the beauty of the vocal music that Pluess and Collins-Sussman] have woven into Anderson's poignant prose."
The ''
Chicago Reader'' reviewer, Justin Hayford, said that "composers Andre Pluess and Ben
ollins-Sussmancreate a haunting anthem revealing the town's inner life. It's a stirring opening, intricate in its dark shadings."
Interactive fiction
Collins-Sussman co-created the interactive fiction title ''Rover's Day Out'' with Jack Welch, which in 2009 won the 15th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition, judged by the readership of the
Usenet newsgroup
A Usenet newsgroup is a repository usually within the Usenet system, for messages posted from users in different locations using the Internet. They are discussion groups and are not devoted to publishing news. Newsgroups are technically distin ...
ews://rec.arts.int-fiction rec.arts.int-fiction Games reviewer Jimmy Maher described it as "an impressively intricate, multi-layered piece of fiction."
Welch and Collins-Sussman also co-authored ''Hoosegow'', which won the Casual Gameplay Design Competition #7 by influential game review website
Jay Is Games in 2010.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins-Sussman, Ben
American software engineers
American musical theatre composers
American video game designers
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people