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Information About

Per Brinch Hansen




Per Brinch Hansen ( November 13 , 1938 - July 31 , 2007 ) was a Danish-American Computer Scientist known for Concurrent Programming theory.

He was born in Frederiksberg , a suburb of Copenhagen , Denmark .

Brinch Hansen was one of the pioneers of ).

In the 1960s , Brinch Hansen worked at the Danish computer company Regnecentralen , first in the Compiler group headed by Peter Naur and Jørn Jensen , and, later, as the chief architect of the RC 4000 Minicomputer and its renowned Operating System Kernel ( RC 4000 Multiprogramming System ). In 1972 , he wrote the first comprehensive textbook on ''Operating System Principles''.

Since 1970 his research in computer science focused on concurrent programming: Inspired by Ole-Johan Dahl and Kristen Nygaard 's programming language Simula 67 , he invented the Monitor Concept in 1972. In the United States, he also developed the first concurrent programming language, Concurrent Pascal , in 1975. In 1977, he wrote the first book on Concurrent Programming: ''The Architecture of Concurrent Programs''.

More recently, Brinch Hansen documented the historical development of these fundamental areas of computer science.

Since 1987, he was a Professor at Syracuse University in New York State . On July 31, 2007, Per Brinch Hansen died of cancer.


EDUCATION



PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE



HONORS AND AWARDS

  • 1978 Doctor Technices, Technical University of Denmark, for The Architecture of Concurrent Programs

  • 1985 IEEE Fellow

  • 1989 Chancellor's Medal, Syracuse University

  • 2002 IEEE Computer Pioneer Award ''for pioneering development in operating systems and concurrent programming exemplified by work on the RC 4000 multiprogramming system, monitors, and Concurrent Pascal''



BIBLIOGRAPHY

  • Operating System Principles (1973, ISBN 0-13-637843-9)

  • The Architecture of Concurrent Programs (1977, ISBN 0-13-044628-9)

  • Programming a Personal Computer (1983, ISBN 0-13-730267-3)

  • Brinch Hansen on Pascal Compilers (1985, ISBN 0-13-083098-4)

  • Studies in Computational Science: Parallel Programming Paradigms (1995, ISBN 0-13-439324-4)

  • The Search for Simplicity: Essays in Parallel Programming (1996)

  • Programming for Everyone in Java (1999, ISBN 0-387-98683-9)

  • Classic Operating Systems: From Batch Processing to Distributed Systems (editor, 2001, ISBN 0-387-95113-X)

  • The Origin of Concurrent Programming: From Semaphores to Remote Procedure Calls (editor, 2004, ISBN 0-387-95401-5)

  • A Programmer's Story: The Life of a Computer Pioneer (2004, available at http://brinch-hansen.net/)




QUOTATIONS

  • ''Writing is a rigorous test of simplicity: It is just not possible to write convincingly about ideas that cannot be understood''

  • ''Programming is the art of writing essays in crystal clear prose and making them executable''



EXTERNAL LINKS