IT Legends: Technology's Most Pioneering and Innovative Heroes

Vint Cerf and Robert Kahn: The Fathers of The Internet Who Linked The World Have you ever wondered how the invention of the internet came to be through a collaboration between two of the world's greatest computer scientists? Who are the two people responsible for making the internet a reality? If so, then you'll be pleased to learn that Vint Cerf and Robert Kahn are the two computer scientists who are often credited as the 'fathers of the Internet'. Vint Cerf and Robert Kahn have been responsible for developing some of the most crucial technology that allowed us to connect in real-time, throughout the world. They are credited as the original architects of the TCP/IP protocol suite and co-developed the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP). These tools paved the way for the creation of the internet in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Before Cerf and Kahn, the idea of having computing devices talk to each other’s networks was practically unheard...

John Backus: The Father of Programming Languages and Catalyst for Modern Computing One can hardly argue that John Backus was one of the most influential personalities in computer engineering. Among the numerous accomplishments that he has achieved, the most noteworthy was writing the first comprehensive user-friendly language for computers – FORTRAN – and laying the foundation for modern computing technology. At the dawn of the computer age, computing technology was painfully slow, complex, and often unreliable. Backus made it his mission to create a tool that would make computers easier to use and accessible to the masses. In 1956 Backus proposed a “thoroughgoing” development of the FORTRAN language. The language would be geared toward professionals in fields such as engineering, mathematics, chemistry, and physics, allowing them to write computer programs more rapidly and accurately than ever before. Initially, Backus's proposal was met with much resistance from the scientif...