Ken Thompson

Question 1

Who is Ken Thompson?

Answer 1

Ken Thompson is a computer scientist known for creating the UNIX operating system and contributing to several key developments in computer science.

Question 2

What was Ken Thompson’s most famous invention?

Answer 2

Ken Thompson co-created the UNIX operating system.

Question 3

In which laboratory did Ken Thompson work when he created UNIX?

Answer 3

Ken Thompson worked at Bell Labs.

Question 4

What programming language did Ken Thompson create that influenced the C language?

Answer 4

Ken Thompson created the B programming language.

Question 5

What prestigious award did Ken Thompson win in 1983?

Answer 5

Ken Thompson won the Turing Award in 1983, alongside Dennis Ritchie.

Question 6

Which operating system is derived from UNIX and still widely used today?

Answer 6

Linux is derived from UNIX and is widely used today.

Question 7

What was Ken Thompson’s role in the development of the Go programming language?

Answer 7

Ken Thompson helped design and implement the original version of Google’s Go programming language.

Question 8

Which year was Ken Thompson born?

Answer 8

Ken Thompson was born in 1943.

Question 9

Fill in the blank: Ken Thompson’s invention of ____ influenced nearly all modern operating systems.

Answer 9

UNIX

Question 10

How did the historical context of the 1960s and 1970s influence Thompson’s work?

Answer 10

The rapid advancement of computer science and the need for efficient multi-user systems during the Cold War era influenced Thompson’s work on UNIX.

Question 11

What is one of the key concepts introduced by UNIX?

Answer 11

UNIX introduced key concepts such as hierarchical file systems, multitasking, and user permissions.

Question 12

Which company’s operating system, macOS, is influenced by UNIX?

Answer 12

Apple’s macOS is influenced by UNIX.

Question 13

Fill in the blank: Ken Thompson’s B programming language laid the groundwork for the ____ language.

Answer 13

C

Question 14

What was Ken Thompson’s contribution to text processing?

Answer 14

Ken Thompson contributed to the development of regular expressions used in text processing.

Question 15

How is Ken Thompson remembered today?

Answer 15

Ken Thompson is remembered as a humble and innovative computer scientist whose work shaped modern operating systems and software development.

Question 16

Which other operating system, apart from UNIX, did Ken Thompson help develop?

Answer 16

Ken Thompson helped develop the Plan 9 operating system.

Question 17

What challenge did Ken Thompson face at Bell Labs while creating UNIX?

Answer 17

Ken Thompson faced limited resources and hardware while creating UNIX at Bell Labs.

Question 18

What notable ethical concern did Ken Thompson raise in his Turing Award speech?

Answer 18

Ken Thompson raised concerns about trust in software by revealing how he inserted a hidden backdoor in the UNIX C compiler.

Question 19

What unusual hobby does Ken Thompson have?

Answer 19

Ken Thompson has a passion for chess and artificial intelligence, and he built the chess machine Belle.

Question 20

What did Ken Thompson demonstrate in his Turing Award acceptance speech?

Answer 20

Ken Thompson demonstrated how he could insert an undetectable backdoor into the UNIX C compiler.

Question 21

Fill in the blank: Ken Thompson’s passion for simplicity influenced his design of ____.

Answer 21

UNIX

Question 22

Which chess machine did Ken Thompson create?

Answer 22

Ken Thompson created the chess machine Belle, which competed at a grandmaster level.

Question 23

Fill in the blank: Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie’s work on ____ earned them the Turing Award.

Answer 23

UNIX