Gallery: The Secret of a Successful Programming Language? A Really Great Beard

  • Image may contain Dennis Ritchie Tie Accessories Accessory Human Person Bill Clinton Coat Clothing and Overcoat
    01

    image

    *C creators Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie, genius guys with genius beards*
  • JamesGosling
    02

    james-gosling

    *Java inventor James Gosling, a clear sign that the success of a programming language depends on facial hair* *Photo: [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:James_Gosling_2008.jpg)*
  • BjarneStroustrup
    03

    bjarnestroustrup

    *C++ creator Bjarne Stroustrup had the necessary facial hair. But then he made the mistake of shaving it off* *Photo: [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BjarneStroustrup.jpg)*
  • JohnMcCarthy
    04

    john-mccarthy

    *John McCarthy. His beard survived for 50 years -- and so did Lisp.* *Photo: [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_McCarthy_Stanford.jpg)*
  • Image may contain Alan Kay Face Smile Human Person Head Mouth Teeth Lip and Mustache
    05

    image-2

    *Alan Kay, the creator of SmallTalk, a seminal language that suffered from a lack of chin hair.* *Photo: [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alan_Kay2.jpg)*
  • larriwall
    06

    larri-wall

    *Perl rocks. But it would have rocked harder if Larri Wall had grown a beard* *Photo: [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Larry_Wall_YAPC_2007.jpg)*
  • BASIC ANNIVERSARY
    JIM COLE
    07

    thomas-kurtz

    *Thomas Kurtz built BASIC. And all he had was a basic mustache* *Photo: Jim Cole/AP*
  • kristennygaard
    08

    kristen-nygaard

    *You stil using SIMULA? That's probably because Kristen Nygaard liked to shave* *Photo: Estate of Kristen Nygaard/Marius Nygaard*
  • GraceHopper
    09

    grace-hopper

    *Grace Hopper, inventor of Cobol and the exception that proves the rule* *Photo: [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Grace_Hopper_and_UNIVAC.jpg)*
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