Dennis Ritchie

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/dennis-ritchie

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. When was Dennis Ritchie born?September 9, 1941
2. Where was Dennis Ritchie born?Bronxville, New York, USA
3. When did Dennis Ritchie die?October 12, 2011 (age 70)
4. What is the career?Computer scientist at Bell Labs from 1968 to 2007
5. Who was Dennis Ritchie?Dennis Ritchie was an American computer scientist who invented the C programming language and helped create the UNIX operating system.
6. What is the C programming language?C is a language that lets programmers write efficient, portable code that works on many different computers.

C Programming Language: A general-purpose, procedural computer programming language known for its efficiency, low-level memory access, and structured syntax.
UNIX Operating System: A family of multitasking, multi-user computer operating systems developed at Bell Labs, characterized by its portability and command-line interface.
System Programming: The activity of programming system software, such as operating systems, device drivers, and compilers, which interact closely with hardware.
Portability: The ability of software to be transferred and run on different types of computer hardware or operating systems with minimal modification.