4 ms·

I suspect that any answer to this question will be a downvote magnet... Anyways, I nominate * Eric S. Raymond * Robert C. Martin ("Uncle Bob") * Alan Kay

• hardware2win 4y ago
  Why the last one?
  • bitwize 4y ago
    Alan Kay was the idea man. He situated Smalltalk in a context of, this is programming as media, as a form of expression and a means to learn and teach, and not just an engineering activity; when it comes to Smalltalk, Dan Ingalls did much of the implementation work.
• NoraCodes 4y ago
  I agree that ESR and Martin are quite overrated, but why Kay? And why call out that you expect downvotes?
  • adwn 4y ago
    The "downvotes magnet" thing was tongue-in-cheek – any name is either not famous enough, making it a bad answer, or famous enough to have lots of fans that will disapprove of the nomination. > why Kay? I don't think his actual, lasting influences justify the near-mythical status bestowed on him by his disciples. Not saying he's completely unimportant, just that he's overrated. I'm not very confident on that assessment though, which is why I listed him last (and ESR first).