Editing Christopher Strachey (section)

{{short description|British computer scientist (1916–1975)}}
{{EngvarB|date=December 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2017}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Christopher Strachey
| image             = Christopher Strachey computer printout.jpg
| caption           = Early computer printout of Christopher&nbsp;Strachey in the [[Bodleian Library]], Oxford
| birth_date        = {{Birth date|df=y|1916|11|16}}
| birth_place       = [[Hampstead]], England
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|df=y|1975|5|18|1916|11|16}}
| death_place       = [[Oxford]], England
| citizenship       = British
| nationality       = 
| ethnicity         = 
| field             = [[Computer Science]]
| work_institutions = [[University of Cambridge]],<br/>[[University of Oxford]]<br>[[St Edmund's School, Canterbury]]<br>[[Harrow School]]
| education         = [[Gresham's School]]
| alma_mater        = [[University of Cambridge]] (BA)
| doctoral_advisor  = 
| doctoral_students = [[Peter Mosses]]<br/>[[David Turner (computer scientist)|David Turner]]
| known_for         = [[Combined Programming Language|CPL]], [[denotational semantics]], ''[[Fundamental Concepts in Programming Languages]]'', [[time-sharing]]
| influences        = 
| influenced        = 
| prizes            = 
| parents           = [[Oliver Strachey]]<br />[[Ray Strachey|Ray Costelloe]] 
}}
'''Christopher S. Strachey''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|t|r|eɪ|tʃ|i}}; 16 November 1916 – 18 May 1975) was a British [[computer scientist]].<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/752661/Christopher-Strachey Christopher Strachey: British computer scientist], ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''.</ref><ref>[https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/24dc1102-e60d-489e-9443-55b0af464f1a Catalogue of the papers and correspondence of Christopher Strachey (1916–1975)], [[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]], United Kingdom.</ref><ref>[[Michael J.C. Gordon|Gordon, M.J.C.]], [http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=609211 Christopher Strachey: Recollections of His Influence], ''[[Higher-Order and Symbolic Computation]]'', 13(1–2):65–67, April 2000. {{ISSN|1388-3690}}. ([http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mjcg/Strachey.ps PostScript version] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313004010/http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mjcg/Strachey.ps |date=13 March 2017 }}.)</ref> He was one of the founders of [[denotational semantics]], and a pioneer in [[programming language]] design and computer [[time-sharing]].<ref name="ctsspg">F. J. Corbató, et al., ''[http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/ctss/CTSS_ProgrammersGuide.pdf The Compatible Time-Sharing System A Programmer's Guide]'' (MIT Press, 1963) {{ISBN|978-0-262-03008-3}}. "the first paper on time-shared computers by C. Strachey at the June 1959 UNESCO Information Processing conference"</ref> He has also been credited as possibly being the first developer of a [[video game]]<ref>{{Cite web|last=Brown|first=Stuart|date=2019-10-04|title=The First Video Game|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHQ4WCU1WQc|url-status=live|access-date=2022-01-19|website=[[YouTube]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191004201029/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHQ4WCU1WQc&gl=US&hl=en |archive-date=4 October 2019 }}</ref> and for coining terms such as [[Polymorphism (computer science)|polymorphism]] and [[referential transparency]] that are still widely used by developers today.<ref>{{cite tech report |last1=Strachey |first1=Christopher |date=1967 |title=Fundamental Concepts in Programming Languages |url= |institution=Lecture notes for the International Summer School in Computer Programming at Copenhagen |number=}}</ref> He was a member of the [[Strachey]] family, prominent in government, arts, administration, and academia.