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At 17, Armstrong began programming in [[Fortran]] on his local council's [[mainframe]].<ref name="ivory"/>
At 17, Armstrong began programming in [[Fortran]] on his local council's [[mainframe]].<ref name="ivory"/>
Armstrong graduated with a bachelor's degree in [[Physics]] from [[University College London]] in 1972.<ref name="obit"/>
Armstrong graduated with a [[B.Sc.]] in [[Physics]] from [[University College London]] in 1972.<ref name="obit"/>


⚫
He received a [[Ph.D.]] in [[Computer Science]] from the [[Royal Institute of Technology]] (KTH) in [[Stockholm|Stockholm, Sweden]] in 2003.<ref name="obit"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.erlang-factory.com/conference/ErlangUserConference2012/speakers/joearmstrong |title=Joe Armstrong: Father of Erlang |work=Erlang User Conference |publisher=Erlang Solutions Ltd. |date=2012 |accessdate=23 December 2017}}</ref> His dissertation was titled ''Making reliable distributed systems in the presence of software errors''.<ref>{{cite thesis |type=PhD |first=Joe |last=Armstrong |date=December 2003 |title=Making reliable distributed systems in the presence of software errors |url=http://www.sics.se/~joe/thesis/armstrong_thesis_2003.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041204143417/http://www.sics.se/~joe/thesis/armstrong_thesis_2003.pdf |archive-date=4 December 2004 |publisher=[[Royal Institute of Technology]] |place=Stockholm}}</ref> He was a professor at [[KTH Royal Institute of Technology|KTH]] from 2014 until his death.<ref name="obit"/>
⚫
Armstrong moved to [[Sweden]] in 1974 and joined the [[Ericsson | Ericsson Computer Science Lab]] in [[Kista]] in 1984. It was there in 1986, that he worked with Robert Virding and Mike Williams, to invent the [[Erlang (programming language)|Erlang]] programming language.<ref name="obit"/>

⚫
Armstrong married Helen Taylor in 1977, and they have two children, Thomas and Claire.<ref name="obit"/>


==Career==
==Career==
⚫
He received a Ph.D. in [[computer science]] from the [[Royal Institute of Technology]] (KTH) in [[Stockholm|Stockholm, Sweden]] in 2003.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.erlang-factory.com/conference/ErlangUserConference2012/speakers/joearmstrong |title=Joe Armstrong: Father of Erlang |work=Erlang User Conference |publisher=Erlang Solutions Ltd. |date=2012 |accessdate=23 December 2017}}</ref> His dissertation was titled ''Making reliable distributed systems in the presence of software errors''.<ref>{{cite thesis |type=PhD |first=Joe |last=Armstrong |date=December 2003 |title=Making reliable distributed systems in the presence of software errors |url=http://www.sics.se/~joe/thesis/armstrong_thesis_2003.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041204143417/http://www.sics.se/~joe/thesis/armstrong_thesis_2003.pdf |archive-date=4 December 2004 |publisher=[[Royal Institute of Technology]] |place=Stockholm}}</ref> He was a professor at [[KTH Royal Institute of Technology|KTH]] since 2014.


⚫
Armstrong moved to [[Sweden]] in 1974 and joined the [[Ericsson | Ericsson Computer Science Lab]] at [[Kista]] in 1984.<ref name="obit"/>
⚫
==Death==
⚫
He died on 20 April 2019 from an infection which was complicated by [[pulmonary fibrosis]].<ref name="DeathRef">{{cite web | title=Francesco Cesarini on Twitter | website=Twitter | date=20 April 2019 | url=https://twitter.com/FrancescoC/status/1119596234166218754 | access-date=20 April 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Wager|first1=Kristjan|title=RIP Joe Armstong, the author of Erlang|url=https://freethoughtblogs.com/kriswager/2019/04/20/rip-joe-armstrong-the-author-of-erlang/|website=Free Thought Blogs|accessdate=21 April 2019|date=20 April 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | author=作者： | title=Erlang之父Joe Armstrong去世 | website=新浪科技_新浪网 | date=21 April 2019 | url=http://tech.sina.com.cn/csj/2019-04-21/doc-ihvhiewr7400471.shtml | language=zh | access-date=21 April 2019}}</ref><ref name="DeathReason">{{cite web | title=Helen Taylor on Twitter | website=Twitter | date=21 April 2019 | url=https://twitter.com/mrsjoeerl/status/1119941783381774338 | access-date=24 April 2019}}</ref>


⚫
Peter Seibel wrote:
⚫
==Personal life==
⚫
<blockquote>Originally a physicist, he switched to computer science when he ran out of money in the middle of his physics PhD and landed a job as a researcher working for [[Donald Michie]]—one of the founders of the field of artificial intelligence in Britain. At Michie's lab, Armstrong was exposed to the full range of AI goodies, becoming a founding member of the British Robotics Association and writing papers about robotic vision.


⚫
When funding for AI dried up as a result of the famous [[Lighthill report]], it was back to physics-related programming for more than half a decade, first at the [[EISCAT]] scientific association and later the [[Swedish Space Corporation]], before finally joining the [[Ericsson | Ericsson Computer Science Lab]], where he invented Erlang.<ref>{{cite web |first=Peter |last=Seibel |url=http://www.codersatwork.com/joe-armstrong.html |publisher=[[Coders at work]] |title=Joe Armstrong |date=2009 |accessdate=23 December 2017}}</ref></blockquote>
{{Empty section|date=April 2017}}


It was at [[Ericsson]] in 1986, that he worked with Robert Virding and Mike Williams, to invent the [[Erlang (programming language)|Erlang]] programming language,<ref name="obit"/> which was released as open source in 1998.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.erlang.se/onlinenews/ErlangOTPos.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991009002753/http://www.erlang.se/onlinenews/ErlangOTPos.shtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 October 1999 |title=Erlang/OTP Released as Open Source, 1998-12-08}}</ref>
==Work==


⚫
==Personal Life==
⚫
Peter Seibel wrote:
⚫
<blockquote>Originally a physicist, he switched to computer science when he ran out of money in the middle of his physics PhD and landed a job as a researcher working for [[Donald Michie]]—one of the founders of the field of artificial intelligence in Britain. At Michie's lab, Armstrong was exposed to the full range of AI goodies, becoming a founding member of the British Robotics Association and writing papers about robotic vision.


⚫
Armstrong married Helen Taylor in 1977, they have two children, Thomas and Claire.<ref name="obit"/>
⚫
When funding for AI dried up as a result of the famous [[Lighthill report]], it was back to physics-related programming for more than half a decade, first at the [[EISCAT]] scientific association and later the [[Swedish Space Corporation]], before finally joining the Ericsson Computer Science Lab, where he invented Erlang.<ref>{{cite web |first=Peter |last=Seibel |url=http://www.codersatwork.com/joe-armstrong.html |publisher=[[Coders at work]] |title=Joe Armstrong |date=2009 |accessdate=23 December 2017}}</ref></blockquote>


⚫
==Death==
While working at [[Ericsson]] in 1986, Joe Armstrong was one of the designers and implementers of Erlang.

===Erlang===
Along with Robert Virding and Mike Williams in 1986, Armstrong developed Erlang, which was released as open source in 1998.


⚫
Armstrong died on 20 April 2019 from an infection which was complicated by [[pulmonary fibrosis]].<ref name="DeathRef">{{cite web | title=Francesco Cesarini on Twitter | website=Twitter | date=20 April 2019 | url=https://twitter.com/FrancescoC/status/1119596234166218754 | access-date=20 April 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Wager|first1=Kristjan|title=RIP Joe Armstong, the author of Erlang|url=https://freethoughtblogs.com/kriswager/2019/04/20/rip-joe-armstrong-the-author-of-erlang/|website=Free Thought Blogs|accessdate=21 April 2019|date=20 April 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | author=作者： | title=Erlang之父Joe Armstrong去世 | website=新浪科技_新浪网 | date=21 April 2019 | url=http://tech.sina.com.cn/csj/2019-04-21/doc-ihvhiewr7400471.shtml | language=zh | access-date=21 April 2019}}</ref><ref name="DeathReason">{{cite web | title=Helen Taylor on Twitter | website=Twitter | date=21 April 2019 | url=https://twitter.com/mrsjoeerl/status/1119941783381774338 | access-date=24 April 2019}}</ref>
===Recognition===


===Publications===
==Publications==
* 2007. ''Programming Erlang: Software for a Concurrent World''. Pragmatic Bookshelf {{ISBN|978-1934356005}}.
* 2007. ''Programming Erlang: Software for a Concurrent World''. Pragmatic Bookshelf {{ISBN|978-1934356005}}.
* 2013. ''Programming Erlang: Software for a Concurrent World. Second edition''. Pragmatic Bookshelf {{ISBN|978-1937785536}}.
* 2013. ''Programming Erlang: Software for a Concurrent World. Second edition''. Pragmatic Bookshelf {{ISBN|978-1937785536}}.

Revision as of 13:27, 6 September 2021

Joe Armstrong
Armstrong in 2009
Born(1950-12-27)27 December 1950
Bournemouth, England, UK
Died20 April 2019(2019-04-20) (aged 68)
Alma materRoyal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden
Occupation(s)Computer programmer, author
Known forCreating the Erlang programming language
Websitejoearms.github.io

Joseph Leslie Armstrong (27 December 1950 – 20 April 2019) was a computer scientist working in the area of fault-tolerant distributed systems. He is best known as one of the co-designers of the Erlang programming language.

Early life and education

Armstrong was born in Bournemouth, England in 1950.[1][2]

At 17, Armstrong began programming in Fortran on his local council's mainframe.[1]

Armstrong graduated with a B.Sc. in Physics from University College London in 1972.[2]

He received a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden in 2003.[2][3] His dissertation was titled Making reliable distributed systems in the presence of software errors.[4] He was a professor at KTH from 2014 until his death.[2]

Career

Armstrong moved to Sweden in 1974 and joined the Ericsson Computer Science Lab at Kista in 1984.[2]

Peter Seibel wrote:

Originally a physicist, he switched to computer science when he ran out of money in the middle of his physics PhD and landed a job as a researcher working for Donald Michie—one of the founders of the field of artificial intelligence in Britain. At Michie's lab, Armstrong was exposed to the full range of AI goodies, becoming a founding member of the British Robotics Association and writing papers about robotic vision. When funding for AI dried up as a result of the famous Lighthill report, it was back to physics-related programming for more than half a decade, first at the EISCAT scientific association and later the Swedish Space Corporation, before finally joining the Ericsson Computer Science Lab, where he invented Erlang.[5]

It was at Ericsson in 1986, that he worked with Robert Virding and Mike Williams, to invent the Erlang programming language,[2] which was released as open source in 1998.[6]

Personal Life

Armstrong married Helen Taylor in 1977, they have two children, Thomas and Claire.[2]

Death

Armstrong died on 20 April 2019 from an infection which was complicated by pulmonary fibrosis.[7][8][9][10]

Publications

  • 2007. Programming Erlang: Software for a Concurrent World. Pragmatic Bookshelf ISBN 978-1934356005.
  • 2013. Programming Erlang: Software for a Concurrent World. Second edition. Pragmatic Bookshelf ISBN 978-1937785536.

References

  1. ^ a b Armstrong, Joe (29 April 2013). "Excerpts from Coders At Work: Joe Armstrong Interview". Living in an Ivory Basement (Interview). Interviewed by Seibel, Peter. Brown, C. Titus. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Däcker, Bjarne (8 May 2019). "Joe Armstrong obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  3. ^ "Joe Armstrong: Father of Erlang". Erlang User Conference. Erlang Solutions Ltd. 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  4. ^ Armstrong, Joe (December 2003). Making reliable distributed systems in the presence of software errors (PDF) (PhD). Stockholm: Royal Institute of Technology. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 December 2004.
  5. ^ Seibel, Peter (2009). "Joe Armstrong". Coders at work. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  6. ^ "Erlang/OTP Released as Open Source, 1998-12-08". Archived from the original on 9 October 1999.
  7. ^ "Francesco Cesarini on Twitter". Twitter. 20 April 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  8. ^ Wager, Kristjan (20 April 2019). "RIP Joe Armstong, the author of Erlang". Free Thought Blogs. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  9. ^ 作者： (21 April 2019). "Erlang之父Joe Armstrong去世". 新浪科技_新浪网 (in Chinese). Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  10. ^ "Helen Taylor on Twitter". Twitter. 21 April 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
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