Guido van Rossum

Biography :

Guido van Rossum is a Dutch programmer who is the creator of the Python programming language. He received the 2001 Award for the Advancement of Free Software from the Free Software Foundation (FSF) for his work on Python. Rossum was born in the Netherlands. He received a master's degree in mathematics and computer science from the University of Amsterdam in 1982. Rossum has a brother, Just van Rossum, who is a Dutch type designer and programmer. Just van Rossum designed the typeface used in the "Python Powered" logo. Guido van Rossum received a bronze medal in the International Mathematical Olympiad in 1974. Van Rossum married Kim Knapp, and he lives in Belmont, California, with his wife and son.

Guido van Rossum needed a short, unique, and slightly mysterious name for the programming language. He decided to name the programming language "Python". This name came to his mind from the BBC comedy series Monty Python's Flying Circus.

Van Rossum worked at Google from 2005 to December 2012, where he spent half of his time developing the Python language. Here, he developed Mondrian, a web-based code review system written in Python, and used it within the company. He named this software after the Dutch painter Piet Mondrian. Van Rossum left Google on December 7, 2012.

Benevolent dictator for life (BDFL) is a title given to a small number of open-source software development leaders and typically project founders who retain the final say in disputes or arguments within the community. This phrase originated concerning Guido van Rossum, creator of the Python programming language in 1995.

Van Rossum announced that he would be stepping down from the position of BDFL of the Python programming language in July 2018. Also, he remained a member of the Python Steering Council through 2019 and withdrew from nominations for the 2020 election. He currently works at Microsoft as a Distinguished Engineer.