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'Computer History Museum' Honorees Include Python Creator Guido van Rossum (computerhistory.org)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the fine-fellowships dept.

On Wednesday the Computer History Museum, "the world's leading institution exploring the history of computing and its transformational impact on society," proudly announced the three Fellow Award honorees for 2018:
  • Dov Frohman-Bentchkowsky -- "For the invention of the first commercial erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), which enabled rapid development of microprocessor-based systems."
  • Dame Stephanie Shirley CH -- "For a lifetime of entrepreneurship promoting the growth of the UK software industry and the advancement of women in computing."
  • Guido van Rossum -- "For the creation and evolution of the Python programming language, and for leadership of its community."

"We are delighted to induct these outstanding new Fellows with diverse contributions in hardware, in services, and in software," said Len Shustek, the Museum's board chairman. "They are true heroes of the Digital Age."


73 comments

  1. Question... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why is Python so popular?

    1. Re:Question... by fluffernutter · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Python strikes a really good balance between readability, simplicity, and power. The library support for the language is enormous. Want to write a GUI app? Wxpython. Want to make an asynchronous application? Twisted. Wamp server? Autobahn. Want to connect it to redis? pyredis. Want to do job queueing? Many available. You get the point.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    2. Re:Question... by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Oh and how could I not mention Django for web framework!

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    3. Re: Question... by orlanz · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Python has a lot of strengths:

      -it is old and stable
      -very easy to learn, install, & expand
      -very easy to read other's code!!
      -good documentation & tutorials
      -easy conceptualizations (int, list, dict, string, method, class, generator)
      -hugh library that addresses 90% of common problems
      -pretty big, stable, & open community
      -good leadership; similar to Linux, but more dictator-like and less foul language.
      -you can start small and slowly build & expand your knowledge.
      -takes a good middle road in terms of hiding vs exposing complexity
      -easy to prototype solutions

      There are shortcomings of course. Most other languages do some of the above better. Perl for example is fairly good at most of the above but it comparibly falls short in terms of code maintenance & legibility.

      The leap to Python 3 was pretty bad for the community. I just switched 2 months ago. But it's not that hard (nor easy) to switch.

    4. Re:Question... by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 1

      Rule of Economy
      Developers should value developer time over machine time, because machine cycles today are relatively inexpensive compared to prices in the 1970s. This rule aims to reduce development costs of projects.

      Rule of Generation
      Developers should avoid writing code by hand and instead write abstract high-level programs that generate code. This rule aims to reduce human errors and save time.

      Rule of Optimization
      Developers should prototype software before polishing it. This rule aims to prevent developers from spending too much time for marginal gains.

    5. Re: Question... by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Perl for example is fairly good at most of the above but it comparibly falls short in terms of code maintenance & legibility.

      That really depends on the programmer. I always write and document all my code, including Perl, with the idea that someone else, perhaps less experienced, will have to pick it up. I learned this lesson a long time ago when I had to pick up some of my own code after a few years had gone by and had to figure out what the hell I had written. Part of being a senior programmer is setting an example for more junior people on your team and helping them learn from your experience.

      --
      It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    6. Re: Question... by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      If your code was properly readable, you would have to waste time documenting.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    7. Re: Question... by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 1

      If your code was properly readable, you would [not] have to waste time documenting.

      That's not necessarily true. It's doesn't hurt to document the reasoning or necessity of some code, or something that may have been written a certain way for a specific reason. It also doesn't hurt to add documentation to help with knowledge transfer, either domain or coding. Documenting the data structures and data files (or the code to process either) is often helpful as well. Your assertion holds better for shorter, simpler programs than longer, complex ones -- assuming you've ever written any of the latter.

      --
      It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    8. Re: Question... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Very well said.

    9. Re:Question... by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Erm, yeah, but WxANYTHING is Microsoft Windows MFC from the mid 1980s.
      Who wants to program in that?

      No idea what better Python libs are for GUI applications, but most certainly not the dreaded WxANYTHING libraries.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    10. Re: Question... by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      I always write and document all my code, including Perl, with the idea that someone else, perhaps less experienced, will have to pick it up

      Trying to fix that for you ...

      I always write and document all my code, especially Perl, with the idea that someone else, usual me perhaps less experienced or just not looking at the code for a decade, will have to pick it up or replace it by a more sane language

      I started with Perl around 1992 or 1993 ... did some serious stuff in it around 1997 and later never looked t it again because for every funking shit I have to google what it means.

      What is so damn hard in having subroutines with named parameters instead of this $0 bullshit you have to split into your own local variables?

      The language was nice when it was new, because it was really much much faster than sh and csh ... and more straight forward working with files ... but as a programming language it is just for mind masochists who get their kick from: "I'm superior to you, because I van perl, you can't ..."

      Perl is really a waste of time. I rejected every Perl offer I got during the last 15 years. For a reason.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    11. Re: Question... by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 0

      You are not from this, planet are you?
      "Java, write once, run everywhere!"

      "Perl, write once, read nevermore!" (But it runs everywhere, too)

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    12. Re: Question... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Perl: The readability of assembly plus the performance of a high level language.

    13. Re: Question... by Camel+Pilot · · Score: 1

      Perl for example is fairly good at most of the above but it comparibly falls short in terms of code maintenance & legibility.

      I program in both and have never really understood this complaint.

      I think it might be that Perl allows you to integrate RegEx directly and therefore is more commonly used. Perl's string interpolation makes print statements much cleaner and easier to understand. And how different ways is there to format a string in Python?

    14. Re: Question... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Old, yes. Stable, no.

      Python couldn't maintain compatibility with itself between minor revisions -- It's only with python 3 that it gained anything resembling stability.

      It is a NIGHTMARE to read other's code. Python isn't more readable because indenting is enforced. Any IDE or code-oriented text editor will pretty-print anything. It's a myth that needs to die.

      Most of teh rest fall under the "any language" category.

      Meaningful white space? That's a deal-breaker for anyone LEARNING. It's worse for anyone SERIOUS. Python Sucks.

    15. Re: Question... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Python zealots think that because their code is indented that it is magically readable by anyone.

      Those people are morons. Worse, they're morons that don't document their terrible code.

    16. Re: Question... by orlanz · · Score: 1

      Compared to most languages, python was stable. You should look up the histories of C, C++, COBOL, ABAP, etc. Even today, look at Java, & Powershell. You will see people doing version checks for _minor_ releases in their code because even simple stuff has deprecated or came online.

      It's a nightmare to read anyone's code! I do this quite a lot in many languages. Python is just less so than others. And if you think legibility is only from the white space, you haven't seen enough complex code. Python doesn't make it easy to write long strings of calculations. It's statements are purposely kept limited in their calculations capacity. So it's easy for people's minds to gawk as the steps of the algorithm are small and simple.

      And back on white space, MIT, CalTech, Carnegie Mellon, GaTech.... all disagree with you. Do you know that each of these actually taught pseudocode for their beginning classes? And proper white space was part of the grading. It's not about the language or code but properly planning and designing your algorithm that matters. You can do that in ANY language, but python is one that has already chosen your coding style for you rather than leave it to you learn & pick from one of the few very best standards.

      Not to harp on white space, but here is an actual example I have seen. Imagine an algorithm that is 20 blocks in. In most languages, it can look fine and legible. But would be horrible to update 10 years later. In python, it would look disgusting to write in the first place and would be refactored by most programmers. The language's preselected coding standard influences the programmer's design toward the verbose & simplicity.

      Now this language may not be your cup of tea... that is OK! It appears to certainly be for a majority! Unlike Ruby, it's not a recent popularity; it's been around for a while.

    17. Re:Question... by sad_ · · Score: 1

      give it a try and find out.

      --
      On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
    18. Re:Question... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ok. There are lots of languages that do any or all three better than Python though. Hell, even Javascript does all three better than Python.

  2. Seriously? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If so then Lennart Poettering deserves to be there too.

    1. Re:Seriously? by NoNonAlphaCharsHere · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well, he was nominated, but he closed the ticket five minutes later with a WONTFIX.

    2. Re:Seriously? by Viol8 · · Score: 1

      Its a shame there isn't an IT equivalent of rottentomatoes.com because then poetterring would have his own special section, starting with the dogs dinner known as pulse audio and ending with the worse re-implementation of init the unix world has ever seen.

  3. van Rossum was invited to give a speech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    However, for the award presentation, museum officials asked him to consider limiting his re-enactment of Monty Python jokes to under a minute.

  4. Some reasons imo... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    It's easy to learn, great body of online documentation & it works (for many things, not all, unlike say C++ or Delphi can - my personal favs) & it seems to have a great deal of "momentum" the past 1/2 decade or so going for it (means it probably won't "go away" like some other new ones may) - that's why imo @ least!

    BIGGEST SINGLE REASON IMO THOUGH? ZERO COST/FREE!

    * My nephew (@ Apple for 5 yrs. now) picked up on it @ RIT & turned me onto it - I was "up & running" writing code in it in a day's time, literally.

    HOWEVER: I'm not a big fan of runtime driven stuff here though - I prefer doing as much as possible yourself in your own code (more control vs. errors that way that popup in 3rd party libs/.dlls, frameworks, units/modules/.h files etc.)

    I think of it as a GOOD "glue" language for scripting OR small tools in character mode/tty terms/DOS windows.

    APK

    P.S.=> I don't call it my 'top choice' but it does have the merits I noted above - especially if you've already been programming in the "Object.Property Method" paradigm already (most all "OOP" languages have been that way for decades now so, there ya go)...apk

    1. Re: Some reasons imo... apk by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Why do you people always get so fixated on speed? Even with geographically dispersed cloud websites, Python's speed is just fine for a web server. I wouldn't create an OS with it, but for a web server it's great.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    2. Re: Some reasons imo... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Really solid comment APK. I too prefer C++ and fall back to python. Good mention to do everything in your own code, many developers today are too happy to glue together 500 libraries when all they've really gained is lost control of their project.

      Despite all the random drama around you APK, you actually seem like you're a decent programmer.

    3. Re:Some reasons imo... apk by plopez · · Score: 1

      every time I hear something is gaining momentum I think fad and hucksterism.

      --
      putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
    4. Re: Some reasons imo... apk by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Because people are dumb.
      And some people don't stay up to date.
      in our days, Python is no longer suitable as a big size "web scale" web development platform.
      Why? Disks are now SSD and about 100 - 1000 times faster than a spinning disk.

      Anyway, Python is a great teaching language and is used in many scientific projects, and it is straight forward.

      There are variations that compile to machine code and are as fast as C ... so who cares?

      Python is superb if I have to query foreign web servers for the data, as the bottle neck is the internet and not Pythong.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    5. Re:Some reasons imo... apk by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Putting something into a museum has not a giant momentum where I live ...

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  5. Lets hope they don't check his history. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have it on good authority that hi miss-parked once. He will probably be removed and they will let out a press release that they do not support that kind of behaviour.

  6. What about me... by raftpeople · · Score: 0

    for all of my work on TPS reports?

    1. Re:What about me... by antdude · · Score: 0

      Where's my red stapler? :P

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  7. I never said that though... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject: I never said it was a 'speed demon' but it's fast enough (& capable enough) to get jobs done & written in C++ (pretty fast result for a runtime due to being written in a relatively safe/fast language).

    * Trying to put words in my mouth I never stated? Poor tactic...

    APK

    P.S.=> It may have an audience which you speak of but it's not limited to that... apk

  8. What about Larry Wall and Perl? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh, yeah.

    No one could figure it out, so they junked it and went with Python.

  9. Christopher Poole by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Should definitely be on there as well

  10. Re:So? by fluffernutter · · Score: 0

    The original post I made was questioning the courageousness of someone who hides behind a gun. By displaying how much fear you have of the government, you are proving my case. Move to a different country if you don't feel safe where you are.

    --
    Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
  11. Computer History Museum is a Joke by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's nice they have these awards, but maybe they should also bother to update their exhibits once in a while.

    The last time I went in there, pretty much the entire Museum hadn't changed since it opened back in the nineties.

    1. Re:Computer History Museum is a Joke by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you want to visit a Computer Museum that really has some History then the UK's TNMoC (The National Museum of Comuting) at Bletchly Park is the place to go.
      They have a Colossus and Witch in the very buildings they were used in during WW2 to break the german codes. Some of the technology built then is still classified!
      Then next door is the BP site itself.
      Without the work done there much of what we know of as IT today would not exist.

      There is some more modern stuff as well including a Cray-1. There is also some Air Traffic Control kit there that I helped programme.

    2. Re: Computer History Museum is a Joke by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Still classified for good reason! You wouldn't want the Russkies to copy advanced Western mechanical relay logic and use it to build a relay-powered supercomputer to use against us--would you?

    3. Re: Computer History Museum is a Joke by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      AFAIK, the the bits that are classified use a form of advance fuzzy logic to help with patern matching which is a lot of what code breaking is all about.
      Those machines use one heck of a lot of Valves as well as relays.

      The German Navy Codes (using a Lorenz machine) were broken by someone who had never seen the kit that did the encoding/decoding. That is the work of a Genius.
      There is a video of how he went about it. It might even be on YouTube.

  12. Apparently you do, you "projectionist" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject (lol) - Make a registered 'luser' account FAKE NAME for your FAKE LIFE called "Projectionist" (you project YOUR OWN ISSUES in being a twisted FREAK so much)!

    APK

    P.S.=> Lastly - No, I'm not like YOU (bet that disappoints you doesn't it?)... apk

  13. Re:So? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And then on /. everyone replies to such a post as yours with:

    "Yeah, and the Vietnam War was a bunch of guerrillas with primitive guns versus a global superpower. How did that turn out?"
    and
    "Yeah. You think the military will fire on its own country?"

    Let's just say there's a reason revolutions succeed at all. (e.g. American Revolution)

  14. Three part names by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Am I the only one who noticed all the honorees have three-part names? Maybe there's a selection bias, people unconsciously associating a three part name with gravity, substance and creative contribution.

    1. Re:Three part names by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Am I the only one who noticed all the honorees have three-part names? Maybe there's a selection bias, people unconsciously associating a three part name with gravity, substance and creative contribution.

      Just like assassins.

  15. Re: So? by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 0

    Barefoot monkeys who hug one another and revel in their diversity.

  16. Re: So? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What about...

  17. awards are idiotic by mapkinase · · Score: 0

    And that's all there is to it.

    --
    I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
    1. Re: awards are idiotic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They will only get worse when awardees begin to be picked off for not being perfect somehow.

  18. Re:So? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Only a coward hides behind a fake name, "fluffernutter". Give us your real name and address, or you are a coward too.

  19. Award for crap ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Computer History Museum website should get an award for:
        1) Requiring Gratuitous Javascript in order to work
        2) Requiring Unfettered Execution of Third and Fourth Party code in order to work
        3) Hosting of Malicious content
        4) Being designed with illegible fonts
        5) Being designed with very low contrast fonts and displays

    In other words, being a modern hunk of shit that is completely unusable.

    To allow such crap on a "History" site is akin to putting pictures of Puff the Magic Dragon on photo's of the Civil War and claiming they are "Historical" weapons that helped win the war.

  20. Agreed, but... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject: I'm the same, admittedly, but Python's had a great deal of momentum for a LONG period now (@ least 5 yrs. I know of - so much so, I even TRIED it & like it for the most part).

    * I also said I truly DO prefer more powerful/capable tools like C++ &/or Object Pascal via Delphi (really OLD stuff but nothing touches them on TONS of fronts that have been around, for like 'forever' etc. proven).

    APK

    P.S.=> Just clarifying I am "with you" & to let you know that - I haven't had my coffee today & perhaps didn't express myself as well as I can (it doesn't help I have a VERY limited space to reply as an AC (post length limits for us exist))... apk

  21. Re: So? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Basically rock gets pistol. Pistol gets rifle. Rifle gets control of national guard armory. National guard armory has higher power weapons and in some cases aircraft. At this point we have eliminated the majority of soldiers on base being armed ... take the military base. It isnâ(TM)t that unlikely the first few times. So an armed population can become militarized. And an ar-15 sniping military patrols in urban settings is quite feasible. But perhaps you expect the military to respond by dropping bombs on their own cities, decimating the civilian population? Armed resistance to tyranny certainly provides an appropriate deterrent to totalitarian government tak8ng control. It also provides a great deterrent to invasion. If the US is invaded one hopes all the form 4473 records would be ordered destroyed.

  22. What if ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We started programming a bunch of mechanical men in Python? Would they become Rossumâ(TM)s Robots?

  23. "the advancement of women" ?! FIGHT SEXISM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you have to put a gender in the name of an award, IT'S SEXIST.

  24. Re: So? by Barefoot+Monkey · · Score: 0

    We are diverse in all things except footware.

  25. Python sucks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I hate Python with a passion

    1. Re:Python sucks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hate Python with a passion

      Oh, get over it. It is just a programming language. Either use it and accept its quirks, or drop it. Don't get all worked up over a programming language (*).

      (*) except for JavaScript, of course. Now, *there* is something to hate with a passion.

  26. Re:So? by sycodon · · Score: 0

    What do you have to say to the 110lb woman?

    Is she just supposed to submit to a 200lb man?

    Would she be a coward hiding behind a gun?

    Funny how you mention cowards. You people are always saying you don't need a gun because we have the Police. Then when they fail, you say the Police are under no obligation into protect you. That gives us 4 deputies cowering behind their car at a FL High school.

    --
    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
  27. Re:So? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What do you have to say to the 110lb woman?

    Is she just supposed to submit to a 200lb man?

    Wouldn't the 200lb man just have a bigger gun?

  28. Re:So? by sycodon · · Score: 1

    It is sad that people like you, who think stupid things like that, exist.

    --
    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
  29. Thanks! I rate myself as... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I can "get the job done" - that's all. 'Drama' is from webmasters (I have proof of it) losing ad money my APK Hosts File Engine 10++ SR-1 32/64-bit https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&biw=&bih=&q=%22APK+Hosts+File+Engine%22+and+%22start64%22&btnG=Google+Search&gbv=1/ stalls!

    IT MUST WORK & BE EFFECTIVE for all I say it is (so do quoted /.ers) OR they wouldn't BE doing this 'drama' you speak of (think about it).

    (IF they & ADVERTISERS, another source of 'attacks' that fail vs. me, wouldn't have allowed "just anyone" to put up ads with malicious script or malware in them? I never would've put it out publicly in mid 2012 - they only have THEMSELVES to blame)

    APK

    P.S.=> Whipslash (/. owner) built FILTERS to try stop me (ineffectual for a YEAR now - the ONLY thing that can stop ME? Is me) - He DOWNMODDED this last time I posted it https://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=11788537&cid=56181679/ ... apk

  30. Computer History Museum? by iq145 · · Score: 1

    Is Al Gore in there? He invented the Internet...