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How Computing Was Built
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Pioneer

Tony Hoare

Also Known As C. A. R. Hoare
Theory of Computation

Sir Charles Antony Richard Hoare is a British computer scientist whose foundational contributions run through programming languages, algorithms, operating systems, formal verification and concurrent computing. He developed quicksort in 1959 to 1960 and Hoare logic for verifying program correctness, and won the 1980 Turing Award. He later called his 1965 invention of the null reference his billion dollar mistake, an honest accounting this atlas quotes with approval. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Birth Year
1934 1
Born 11 January 1934.
Birth Date
1934-01-11 2
Death Year
2026 2
Death Date
2026-03-05 2
Nationality
British 1
Award
Faraday Medal 2
Award
Friedrich L. Bauer Prize 2
Award
Fellow of the Royal Society 2
Award
Harry H. Goode Memorial Award 2
Award
Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering 2
Award
Turing Award 2
Award
ACM Fellow 2
Award
Computer History Museum Fellow 2
Award
Programming Languages Achievement Award 2
Award
Computer Pioneer Award 2
Award
honorary doctor of the University of Madrid Complutense 2
Award
Fellow of the British Computer Society 2
Award
Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology 2
Award
IEEE John von Neumann Medal 2
Award
Knight Bachelor 2
Connections

Associated With

Formal Methods, Fields

Tony Hoare's 1969 paper An Axiomatic Basis for Computer Programming introduced Hoare logic, a foundational formal system for reasoning about program correctness, already cited on this field's own origin-year fact.

Source Wikipedia: Tony Hoare

Credited

Quickselect, Algorithms
Source Quickselect (Wikipedia)

In Field

Algorithms and Complexity Theory, Fields

Invented

ALGOL W, Programming Languages
Source Wikidata: ALGOL W
Quicksort, Concepts
Source Wikipedia: Quicksort

Invented By

Quickselect, Algorithms
Source Quickselect (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Tony Hoare
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Opening and Research and Career sections
    Hoare developed the sorting algorithm quicksort in 1959-1960. He developed Hoare logic, an axiomatic basis for verifying program correctness.
  • Opening section
    Sir Charles Antony Richard Hoare
  • Associated With: Formal Methods
View the Source
2. Wikidata: Tony Hoare
Wikidata Q92602, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source
Wikipedia: Quicksort
Wikimedia FoundationInvented: Quicksort, History section
Quote, Invented: Quicksort, History section
The quicksort algorithm was developed in 1959 by Tony Hoare while he was a visiting student at Moscow State University.
View the Source
Quickselect (Wikipedia)
  • Invented By: Quickselect, Intro, lead sentence
    Tony Hoare
  • Credited: Quickselect, Intro, lead sentence
    Tony Hoare
View the Source
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