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TLDR: Tony Hoare, born in 1934, is a British computer scientist best known for creating the Quicksort algorithm in 1960 and introducing the concept of null references in 1965. He has made significant contributions to programming languages, software design, and formal methods for verifying program correctness. His work has shaped the foundation of modern computing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._A._R._Hoare

One of Tony Hoare's most influential contributions is the Quicksort algorithm, a fast and efficient sorting method still widely used in various programming languages and libraries. The algorithm's divide-and-conquer approach introduced innovative strategies for data manipulation. Quicksort's simplicity and effectiveness make it a cornerstone in computational theory and practical applications.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quicksort

Tony Hoare is also known for his invention of null references, which he later described as his “billion-dollar mistake.” Designed for use in ALGOL W, null references simplified programming logic but have since become a frequent source of software errors and security vulnerabilities. His acknowledgment of this design flaw has led to the development of null-safety features in modern programming languages such as Kotlin and Swift.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Null_pointer

In addition to his technical achievements, Tony Hoare has contributed to the field of formal verification through the development of Hoare logic. Introduced in 1969, Hoare logic provides a systematic way to prove the correctness of programs using mathematical reasoning. This framework is fundamental in ensuring reliability in critical systems, such as aerospace and medical software.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoare_logic

Snippet from Wikipedia: Tony Hoare

Sir Charles Antony Richard Hoare (; born 11 January 1934), also known as C. A. R. Hoare, is a British computer scientist who has made foundational contributions to programming languages, algorithms, operating systems, formal verification, and concurrent computing. His work earned him the Turing Award, usually regarded as the highest distinction in computer science, in 1980.

Hoare developed the sorting algorithm quicksort in 1959–1960. He developed Hoare logic, an axiomatic basis for verifying program correctness. In the semantics of concurrency, he introduced the formal language communicating sequential processes (CSP) to specify the interactions of concurrent processes, and along with Edsger Dijkstra, formulated the dining philosophers problem. Since 1977, he has held positions at the University of Oxford and Microsoft Research in Cambridge.

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“The unavoidable price of reliability is simplicity.” — Tony Hoare

Tony Hoare is known for:

• Quicksort
• Quickselect
• Hoare logic
• Null pointer - Null reference
• Communicating sequential processes
• Structured programming
• ALGOL

Research:

• Tony Hoare on GitHub
• Tony Hoare on DuckDuckGo

• Tony Hoare on Amazon
• Tony Hoare on O'Reilly

Fair Use Sources:

• Donald Knuth on DuckDuckGo