John Ousterhout
Encyclopedia
John Kenneth Ousterhout (icon) is the chairman of Electric Cloud, Inc.
and a professor
of computer science
at Stanford University
. He founded Electric Cloud with John Graham-Cumming
. Ousterhout previously was a professor of computer science at University of California, Berkeley
where he created the Tcl
scripting language
and the Tk
platform-independent widget toolkit
. Ousterhout also led the research group that designed the experimental Sprite operating system
and the first log-structured file system
. Ousterhout is also the original author of the Magic
VLSI Computer-aided design
program.
He received his Bachelor's degree
in Physics from Yale University
in 1975, and his Ph.D.
in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University
in 1980.
Ousterhout received the Grace Murray Hopper Award
in 1987 for his work on CAD systems for very-large-scale integrated circuits
. For the same work, he was inducted in 1994 as a Fellow
of the Association for Computing Machinery
. Ousterhout is a member of the National Academy of Engineering
.
In 1994, Ousterhout left Berkeley to join Sun Microsystems
Laboratories, which hired a team to join him in Tcl development. After several years at Sun, he left and co-founded Scriptics, Inc. (later renamed Ajuba Solutions) in January 1998 to provide professional Tcl development tools and most of the Tcl team followed him from Sun. Ajuba was purchased by Interwoven
in October 2000. He joined the faculty of Stanford University in 2008.
Electric Cloud
Electric Cloud, Inc. is a privately held software corporation specializing in high-performance software build tools. Electric Cloud is based in Sunnyvale, California and currently offers two products. The first product, ElectricAccelerator, speeds up make, Microsoft Visual Studio, and Apache Ant...
and a professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
. He founded Electric Cloud with John Graham-Cumming
John Graham-Cumming
John Graham-Cumming is a British programmer best known for having originated a successful petition to the British Government asking for an apology for its persecution of Alan Turing for his homosexuality....
. Ousterhout previously was a professor of computer science at University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
where he created the Tcl
Tcl
Tcl is a scripting language created by John Ousterhout. Originally "born out of frustration", according to the author, with programmers devising their own languages intended to be embedded into applications, Tcl gained acceptance on its own...
scripting language
Scripting language
A scripting language, script language, or extension language is a programming language that allows control of one or more applications. "Scripts" are distinct from the core code of the application, as they are usually written in a different language and are often created or at least modified by the...
and the Tk
Tk (framework)
Tk is an open source, cross-platform widget toolkit that provides a library of basic elements for building a graphical user interface in many different programming languages....
platform-independent widget toolkit
Widget toolkit
In computing, a widget toolkit, widget library, or GUI toolkit is a set of widgets for use in designing applications with graphical user interfaces...
. Ousterhout also led the research group that designed the experimental Sprite operating system
Sprite operating system
Sprite was an experimental Unix-like distributed operating system developed at the University of California, Berkeley by John Ousterhout's research group between 1984 and 1992. Its notable features included support for single system image on computer clusters and for the introduction of the...
and the first log-structured file system
Log-structured file system
A log-structured filesystem is a file system design first proposed in 1988 by John K. Ousterhout and Fred Douglis. Designed for high write throughput, all updates to data and metadata are written sequentially to a continuous stream, called a log...
. Ousterhout is also the original author of the Magic
Magic (software)
Magic is a Very-large-scale integration layout tool originally written by John Ousterhout and his graduate students at UC Berkeley during the 1980s. Magic continues to be popular because it is free , easy to use, and easy to expand for specialized tasks...
VLSI Computer-aided design
Computer-aided design
Computer-aided design , also known as computer-aided design and drafting , is the use of computer technology for the process of design and design-documentation. Computer Aided Drafting describes the process of drafting with a computer...
program.
He received his Bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in Physics from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in 1975, and his Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
in 1980.
Ousterhout received the Grace Murray Hopper Award
Grace Murray Hopper Award
The original Grace Murray Hopper Awards have been awarded by the Association for Computing Machinery since 1971. The award goes to a young computer professional who makes a single, significant technical or service contribution.-Recipients:* 1971 Donald E. Knuth* 1972 Paul H. Dirksen* 1972 Paul H...
in 1987 for his work on CAD systems for very-large-scale integrated circuits
Very-large-scale integration
Very-large-scale integration is the process of creating integrated circuits by combining thousands of transistors into a single chip. VLSI began in the 1970s when complex semiconductor and communication technologies were being developed. The microprocessor is a VLSI device.The first semiconductor...
. For the same work, he was inducted in 1994 as a Fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
of the Association for Computing Machinery
Association for Computing Machinery
The Association for Computing Machinery is a learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 as the world's first scientific and educational computing society. Its membership is more than 92,000 as of 2009...
. Ousterhout is a member of the National Academy of Engineering
National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering is a government-created non-profit institution in the United States, that was founded in 1964 under the same congressional act that led to the founding of the National Academy of Sciences...
.
In 1994, Ousterhout left Berkeley to join Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
Laboratories, which hired a team to join him in Tcl development. After several years at Sun, he left and co-founded Scriptics, Inc. (later renamed Ajuba Solutions) in January 1998 to provide professional Tcl development tools and most of the Tcl team followed him from Sun. Ajuba was purchased by Interwoven
Interwoven
Interwoven is a line of Content Management Systems and related products. Previously a stand-alone company headquartered in San Jose, California, USA and founded in 1995, it was acquired on March 17, 2009 by Autonomy...
in October 2000. He joined the faculty of Stanford University in 2008.
External links
- John's recounting of Tcl's early days
- Ousterhout's personal home page
- [ftp://ftp.tcl.tk/pub/tcl/doc/tut.tar.Z Tutorial material authored by Ousterhout]
- Ousterhout's web page at Stanford University