Phillip James (P.J. or Bill) Plauger (; born January 13, 1944, Petersburg, West Virginia) is an

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

and

computer programmer A computer programmer, sometimes referred to as a software developer, a software engineer, a programmer or a coder, is a person who creates computer programs — often for larger computer software. A programmer is someone who writes/creates ...

. He has written and co-written articles and books about programming style, software tools, and the

C programming language ''The C Programming Language'' (sometimes termed ''K&R'', after its authors' initials) is a computer programming book written by Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie, the latter of whom originally designed and implemented the language, as well as ...

, as well as works of

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

Personal life and career

Plauger worked at

Bell Labs Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984), then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996) and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007), is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by mult ...

from 1969 to 1975, where he coauthored '' Elements of Programming Style'' and ''Software Tools'' with

Brian Kernighan Brian Wilson Kernighan (; born 1942) is a Canadian computer scientist. He worked at Bell Labs and contributed to the development of Unix alongside Unix creators Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie. Kernighan's name became widely known through co-au ...

. In 1978, he founded

Whitesmiths Whitesmiths Ltd. was a software company founded in New York City by P. J. Plauger, Mark Krieger and Gabriel Pham, and last located in Westford, Massachusetts. It sold a Unix-like operating system called Idris (operating system), Idris, as well as ...

, the first company to sell a C

compiler In computing, a compiler is a computer program that translates computer code written in one programming language (the ''source'' language) into another language (the ''target'' language). The name "compiler" is primarily used for programs that ...

and

Unix-like A Unix-like (sometimes referred to as UN*X or *nix) operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, although not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification. A Unix-li ...

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also in ...

(

Idris Idris may refer to: People * Idris (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * Idris (prophet), Islamic prophet in the Qur'an, traditionally identified with Enoch, an ancestor of Noah in the Bible * Idris G ...

). He has since been involved in C and

C++ C++ (pronounced "C plus plus") is a high-level general-purpose programming language created by Danish computer scientist Bjarne Stroustrup as an extension of the C programming language, or "C with Classes". The language has expanded significan ...

standardization and is now the president of

Dinkumware Phillip James (P.J. or Bill) Plauger (; born January 13, 1944, Petersburg, West Virginia) is an author, entrepreneur and computer programmer. He has written and co-written articles and books about programming style, software tools, and the C ...

. In January 2009 he became the

convener The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

of the ISO

standards committee, but in October 2009 he tendered his resignation after failing to pass a resolution to stop processing any new features in order to facilitate the promised shipping date for the

C++0x C++11 is a version of the ISO/IEC 14882 standard for the C++ programming language. C++11 replaced the prior version of the C++ standard, called C++03, and was later replaced by C++14. The name follows the tradition of naming language versions b ...

standard. Plauger has been credited with inventing

pair programming Pair programming is an software development technique in which two programmers work together at one workstation. One, the ''driver'', writes code while the other, the ''observer'' or ''navigator'', reviews each line of code as it is typed in. The ...

while leading

Ltd. Plauger has written a number of science fiction stories, notably "Child of All Ages", first published in the March 1975 issue of ''

Analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...

'', which features a protagonist who has achieved immortality at the cost of never growing beyond childhood. The story was nominated for the

Hugo Hugo or HUGO may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese * Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback * Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on ...

and

Nebula A nebula ('cloud' or 'fog' in Latin; pl. nebulae, nebulæ or nebulas) is a distinct luminescent part of interstellar medium, which can consist of ionized, neutral or molecular hydrogen and also cosmic dust. Nebulae are often star-forming regio ...

awards in 1976. Plauger won the

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer The ''Astounding'' Award for Best New Writer (formerly the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer) is given annually to the best new writer whose first professional work of science fiction or fantasy was published within the two previous ...

in 1975—notably beating

John Varley John Varley may refer to: * John Varley (canal engineer) (1740–1809), English canal engineer * John Varley (painter) (1778–1842), English painter and astrologer * John Varley (author) (born 1947), American science fiction author * John Silvest ...

for the award—and subsequently sold a story to ''

The Last Dangerous Visions ''The Last Dangerous Visions'' is an unpublished speculative fiction anthology intended to follow '' Dangerous Visions'' (1967) and '' Again, Dangerous Visions'' (1972). Like its predecessors, it was edited by American author Harlan Ellison, ...

''. Plauger holds a bachelor's degree in physics from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

and a PhD in

nuclear physics Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...

from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

Dinkumware

Dinkumware is an American

software company A software company is a company whose primary products are various forms of software, software technology, distribution, and software product development. They make up the software industry. Types There are a number of different types of softw ...

specializing in core libraries for C/, owned and operated by P.J. Plauger. It is based in

Concord, Massachusetts Concord () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. At the 2020 census, the town population was 18,491. The United States Census Bureau considers Concord part of Greater Boston. The town center is near where the conflu ...

. The company has provided the

C++ Standard Library The C standard library or libc is the standard library for the C programming language, as specified in the ISO C standard.ISO/IEC (2018). '' ISO/IEC 9899:2018(E): Programming Languages - C §7'' Starting from the original ANSI C standard, it wa ...

implementation that ships with

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

since 1996 and Embarcadero

C++Builder C++Builder is a rapid application development (RAD) environment, originally developed by Borland and owned by Embarcadero Technologies (a subsidiary of Idera Software, Idera), for writing programs in the C++ programming language currently targeti ...

since 2005, and supplies and libraries to the embedded community. It also provides libraries for

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

and other tools, including "proofers" to test for library adherence to the standard.

Nonfiction works

*''

The Elements of Programming Style ''The Elements of Programming Style'', by Brian W. Kernighan and P. J. Plauger, is a study of programming style, advocating the notion that computer programs should be written not only to satisfy the compiler or personal programming "style", bu ...

'' (1974, revised 1978) with

Brian W. Kernighan Brian Wilson Kernighan (; born 1942) is a Canadian computer scientist. He worked at Bell Labs and contributed to the development of Unix alongside Unix creators Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie. Kernighan's name became widely known through co-aut ...

*''Software Tools'' (1976) with

*''Software Tools in Pascal'' (1981) with

*''The Standard C library'' (1992) *''Programming on Purpose'', collected essays from the magazine ''Computer Language'' **''Volume I: Essays on Software Design'' (1992) **''Volume II: Essays on Software People'' (1993) **''Volume III: Essays on Software Technology'' (1993) *''The Draft Standard C++ Library'' (1995) *''Standard C: A Reference'' (1989, revised 1992, revised 1996) with Jim Brodie *''The C++ Standard Template Library'' (2001) with

Alexander Stepanov Alexander Alexandrovich Stepanov (russian: Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Степа́нов; born November 16, 1950, Moscow) is a Russian-American computer programmer, best known as an advocate of generic programming and as th ...

, Meng Lee, and

David Musser David "Dave" Musser is a professor emeritus of computer science at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, United States. He is known for his work in generic programming, particularly as applied to C++, and his collaboration with Al ...

References

External links

Personal websiteDinkumware company website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Plauger, P.J. 1944 births 20th-century American novelists American male novelists American science fiction writers John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer winners Living people Computer programmers American technology writers American male short story writers People from Petersburg, West Virginia 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers Princeton University alumni Michigan State University alumni