Walter Bright

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Walter Bright
File:WalterBright.jpg
Bright at ACCU 2009
Born (1959-03-10) March 10, 1959 (age 67)
EducationCaltech (BS, 1979)
Known forD (programming language)
Empire
SpouseTrish Bright[1]
Websitewalterbright.com

Walter G. Bright (born March 10, 1959) is an American computer programmer who created the D programming language,[2][3] the Zortech C++ compiler, and the Empire computer game.

Early life and education

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Bright is the son of the United States Air Force pilot Charles D. Bright.[4][5] He taught himself computer programming from the type-in programs in BASIC Computer Games.[6]

Bright graduated from Caltech in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Aeronautical Engineering.[7][8] While at university he wrote the Empire wargame for the PDP-10 mainframe.[9]

Career

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Bright wrote Mattel Intellivision games while at Caltech, then worked as a mechanical engineer after graduation. After learning C in the early 1980s he ported Empire to the IBM PC, stating that C "might as well have been called EIL, for 'Empire Implementation Language.'"[9] Bright developed the Datalight C compiler, also sold as Zorland C and later Zortech C.[10]

Bright was the main developer of the Zortech C++ compiler (later Symantec C++, now Digital Mars C++), which was the first C++ compiler to translate source code directly to object code without using C as an intermediate.[11]

D programming language

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Bright is the creator of the D programming language. He has implemented compilers for several other languages, and is considered an expert in many areas related to compiler technology.[12] Walter regularly writes scientific and magazine articles about compilers and programming[13] and was a blogger for Dr. Dobb's Journal.[14]

Around 2014, Bright wrote Warp, a fast C/C++ preprocessor written in D, for Facebook.[15][16][2]

References

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  10. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). "said Walter Bright, Zortech's directory of technology
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  12. ^ Lang.NEXT 2012 Expert Panel: Native Languages on YouTube
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