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Brian Kernighan
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<p>Brian Wilson Kernighan is a Canadian <a href="/facts/Computer_scientist/DavggjGL">computer scientist</a>. He worked at <a href="/facts/Bell_Labs/fKP5Gk0H">Bell Labs</a> and contributed to the development of <a href="/facts/Unix/0pNL2seI">Unix</a> alongside Unix creators <a href="/facts/Ken_Thompson/KQtrw9YM">Ken Thompson</a> and <a href="/facts/Dennis_Ritchie/I1yu1UWU">Dennis Ritchie</a>. Kernighan's name became widely known through co-authorship of the first book on the <a href="/facts/C_(programming_language)/Ky2No763">C programming language</a> (<i><a href="/facts/The_C_Programming_Language/e9JD2RRK">The C Programming Language</a></i>) with Dennis Ritchie. Kernighan affirmed that he had no part in the design of the C language ("it's entirely Dennis Ritchie's work"). </p><p>Kernighan authored many Unix programs, including <a href="/facts/Troff/NtPk6T03">ditroff</a>. He is coauthor of the <a href="/facts/AWK/lAQ0leyj">AWK</a> and <a href="/facts/AMPL/pzceW9mH">AMPL</a> <a href="/facts/Programming_language/cWTYbgWa">programming languages</a>. The "K" of <a href="/facts/The_C_Programming_Language/e9JD2RRK">K&R C</a> and of AWK both stand for "Kernighan". </p><p>In collaboration with Shen Lin he devised well-known <a href="/facts/Heuristic/BcBEkv9c">heuristics</a> for two <a href="/facts/NP-complete/NFPv56DU">NP-complete</a> optimization problems: <a href="/facts/Graph_partition/MSQF0WyD">graph partitioning</a> and the <a href="/facts/Travelling_salesman_problem/2WEKVLnV">travelling salesman problem</a>. In a display of authorial equity, the former is usually called the <a href="/facts/Kernighan%25E2%2580%2593Lin_algorithm/oJ5F0dN5">Kernighan–Lin algorithm</a>, while the latter is known as the <a href="/facts/Lin%25E2%2580%2593Kernighan_heuristic/3syuy2zV">Lin–Kernighan heuristic</a>. </p><p>Kernighan has been a professor of computer science at <a href="/facts/Princeton_University/n3EPGHBM">Princeton University</a> since 2000 and is the director of undergraduate studies in the department of computer science. In 2015, he co-authored the book <i>The <a href="/facts/Go_(programming_language)/oWlsmAFJ">Go</a> Programming Language.</i> </p>