The programmers behind the technologies we use every day are not only geniuses in their field, but also people with interesting stories and habits. Behind every successful project is a person whose hobbies and preferences can sometimes surprise and even make you smile. In this article, we have collected fun facts about famous programmers that will show them from an unusual perspective.
And if your child is also dreaming of a career in the IT field, we are looking forward to seeing him at Progkids!
Procrastination and Bill Gates
Do you have “bouts” of procrastination? Do you ever put everything off until later? Bill Gates was a true procrastination expert when he was at university. He was even called nothing more than “the guy who does everything at the last minute”, and everyone thought it was very funny. As a result, Bill Gates dropped out of school and started his own business. That's when he realized how bad the habit of procrastinating was, and he quickly gave it up.
Linus Torvalds and the penguins
Linus Torvalds chose a penguin as a mascot for the Linux kernel after being bitten by a penguin one day at the zoo! According to Linus himself, at that moment he became infected with a “penguinitis” and... was burning with a burning love for these black and white creatures.
The Linux penguin symbol created in 1996 is named Tux, which has two decryptions. First, Tux is short for the English word tuxedo, which means tuxedo and is a reference to bird coloring. Secondly, the name Tux is obtained by combining the first letter of the Torvalds surname and the last two letters of the Linux word.
Mark Zuckerberg and blue
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is color blind and is the best at distinguishing blue. That's why Facebook's interface is mostly blue.
Guido van Rossum and his message to the future
In 2013, the creator of the Python programming language wrote a letter to the younger generation of coders sharing his experience. He said that he had not known about the existence of computers for a long time, was fond of assembling digital clocks and dreamed of creating a complex electronic calculator. He liked the idea that everyone could be creative.
In his message, Guido wanted to convey the idea that this is a great time for programmers. Right now, a lot of technologies, information and companies interested in fresh specialists are available.
Jack Dorsey and his tiny salary
When one of Twitter's founders started his career at the company, he was only paid... 140 cents. This amount was not chosen by chance — it refers to the initial limit of 140 characters for tweets on the platform. Thus, colleagues decided to emphasize the importance of brevity and conciseness, which have become Twitter's hallmark.
Margaret Hamilton and LEGO
The famous female programmer who played a key role in developing the software for the Apollo project won numerous well-deserved awards and... was immortalized as a LEGO figure.
In 2017, LEGO released a set called NASA Women. It includes figures of prominent women who have made a significant contribution to the history of space exploration. This pack has become popular among collectors and fans of space history, and served as a reminder of how important it is to recognize women's scientific achievements.
Markus Persson and his sweet home
In the house of the man who came up with and developed one of the world's most popular games called Minecraft, there's... a wall of 25 types of candy! And nearby you can find sculptures of M&M's characters =)
Does your child also dream of becoming a programmer? Then write it down to free trial lesson at Progkids!
