Brian Kernighan, a renowned professor at Princeton and co-author of 'The C Programming Language,' dives into the fascinating history of Unix and its evolution from proprietary to open-source. He discusses the artistry versus science debate in programming and highlights innovative languages like AWK, AMPL, and Go. Kernighan shares insights on learning new languages, the impact of programming on communication, and reflections on the early days of AI, merging nostalgia with a vision for the future of technology.

Today we have a special treat. A conversation with Brian Kernighan! Brian’s been in the software game since the beginning of Unix. Yes, he was there at Bell Labs when it all began. And he is still at it today, writing books and teaching the next generation at Princeton. This is an epic and wide ranging conversation. You’ll hear about the birth of Unix, Ken Thompson’s unique skillset, why Brian thinks C has stood the test of time, his thoughts on modern languages like Go and Rust, what’s changed in 50 years of software, what makes platforms like Unix and the web so powerful, his take as a professor on the trend of programmers skipping the university track, and so much more. Seriously, this is a must-listen. Join the discussionChangelog++ members get a bonus 2 minutes at the end of this episode and zero ads. Join today!Sponsors:Square – Develop on the platform that sellers trust. There is a massive opportunity for developers to support Square sellers by building apps for today’s business needs. Learn more at changelog.com/square to dive into the docs, APIs, SDKs and to create your Square Developer account — tell them Changelog sent you. InfluxData – The time series platform for building and operating time series applications — InfluxDB empowers developers to build IoT, analytics, and monitoring software. It’s purpose-built to handle massive volumes and countless sources of time-stamped data produced by sensors, applications, and infrastructure. Learn more at influxdata.com/changelog FireHydrant – The reliability platform for every developer. Incidents impact everyone, not just SREs. FireHydrant gives teams the tools to maintain service catalogs, respond to incidents, communicate through status pages, and learn with retrospectives. Try FireHydrant free for 14 days at firehydrant.io MongoDB – An integrated suite of cloud database and services — They have a FREE forever tier, so you can prove to yourself and to your team that they have everything you need. Check it out today at mongodb.com/changelog Featuring:Brian Kernighan – WebsiteAdam Stacoviak – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, XJerod Santo – GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, XShow Notes: Brian’s Wikipedia PDP-7 on Wikipedia Understanding the Digital World: What You Need to Know about Computers, the Internet, Privacy, and Security The C Programming Language UNIX: A History and a Memoir The Go Programming Language The Mythical Man-Month Dick Hamming’s You and Your Research Brian on Lex Fridman’s podcast Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!

Brian Kernighan, software veteran with over 50 years of experience, discusses the birth of Unix, the longevity of the C programming language, modernizing C code with memory safety, embracing new technology, the foundations of Unix and the web, web three and decentralization, and appreciates the host's questions.

Brian Kernighan, a pivotal figure in computer science known for his work on Unix and the C programming language, shares his insights on innovation and legacy. He reflects on his time at Bell Labs, the unique environment that fostered creativity, and the contributions of overlooked figures like Doug McIlroy. Kernighan discusses the evolution of programming concepts like associative arrays, the ongoing relevance of Unix philosophies, and the challenges of modern tech innovation. He also muses on whether another groundbreaking idea like Unix could emerge today.

Dr. Brian Kernighan discusses writing 'The Practice of Programming', Bell Labs experience, AI, and LLMs, layers of abstraction, future excitement, programmatic thinking in humanities, and favorite books on a Book Overflow episode.