P. J. Plauger

Who is P. J. Plauger?

Phillip James Plauger is an author and entrepreneur. He has written and co-written articles and books about programming style, software tools, and the C programming language.

He founded Whitesmiths, the first company to sell a C compiler and Unix-like operating system. He has since been involved in C and C++ standardization and is now the president of Dinkumware. In January 2009 he became the convener of the ISO C++ standards committee, but in October 2009 he tendered his resignation after failing to pass a resolution to stop processing any new features in order to facilitate the promised shipping date for the C++0x standard.

Plauger has been credited with inventing pair programming while leading Whitesmiths Ltd.

Plauger wrote a science fiction short story, "Child of All Ages", first published in Analog in the March 1975 issue, whose protagonist was granted immortality before attaining puberty and finds that being a child who never grows up is far removed from an idyllic Peter Pan-like existence. The story was nominated for a Nebula Award in 1975 and a Hugo Award in 1976. He won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1975 -- notably beating John Varley for the award -- and subsequently sold a story to The Last Dangerous Visions.