1. Early Life and Education
Hejlsberg was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. He pursued studies in Electrical Engineering at the Technical University of Denmark. While attending the university in 1980, he began developing programs for the Nascom microcomputer. Among these early projects was a Pascal compiler, initially marketed as the "Blue Label Software Pascal" for the Nascom-2. Although he studied engineering, he ultimately decided to leave the university to fully dedicate himself to his passion for programming.
2. Early Programming Career
Hejlsberg's initial Pascal compiler, "Blue Label Software Pascal," was soon rewritten for the CP/M and MS-DOS operating systems. This revised version was first sold as "Compas Pascal" before being renamed "PolyPascal." The compiler's design drew significant inspiration from the "Tiny Pascal" compiler detailed in Niklaus Wirth's seminal computer science book, "Algorithms + Data Structures = Programs." During this period, Hejlsberg and his colleagues at their company, PolyData, also distributed Microsoft products in Denmark, which at times created tensions with Borland.
3. Work at Borland
In 1983, Anders Hejlsberg developed Turbo Pascal in Denmark and regularly mailed it to Philippe Kahn in the United States, who then marketed it as a product for Borland International Inc. PolyPascal was eventually licensed to Borland and integrated into an IDE to become the highly successful Turbo Pascal system. Turbo Pascal quickly became one of the most commercially successful Pascal compilers.
Hejlsberg continued to work with PolyData until the company faced financial difficulties. In 1986, Hejlsberg and his wife moved from Denmark to the United States, continuing their collaboration with Borland from afar. Then, in 1989, he officially moved to California to assume the role of Chief Engineer at Borland. During his tenure, he further developed Turbo Pascal.
By 1994, Borland's board of directors was divided over the company's strategic direction, split between those advocating for development tools and those favoring business software. This internal conflict led to Philippe Kahn, who supported the development tools division, being ousted as CEO in January 1995. Consequently, the development tools division, led by Hejlsberg, was slated for closure, resulting in significant layoffs. At this time, Hejlsberg, along with Borland Vice President Paul Gross, decided to move to Microsoft, taking almost all of the affected employees with them.
4. Delphi Design
While at Borland, Hejlsberg led the team that developed Borland Delphi, which was designed to succeed Turbo Pascal. Delphi was a groundbreaking visual development tool that significantly modernized the programming landscape, offering a comprehensive environment for rapid application development. His leadership was crucial in the creation of this innovative product.
5. Move to Microsoft
In 1996, after working with Borland for 13 years, Anders Hejlsberg departed and joined Microsoft. His decision to move to Microsoft, a major rival, came at a time when Delphi products were achieving significant success. The move was reportedly influenced by an invitation from Bill Gates, and Microsoft offered Hejlsberg a substantial signing bonus of 500.00 K USD, which was doubled to 1.00 M USD after Borland made a counter-offer. Hejlsberg officially left Borland in October 1996. His departure was part of a larger exodus of employees from Borland's development tools division, including Vice President Paul Gross, who also joined Microsoft.
6. J++ and Windows Foundation Classes
Upon joining Microsoft, Hejlsberg's initial projects included the development of the J++ programming language and the Windows Foundation Classes (WFC). During this period, he was also recognized as a Microsoft Distinguished Engineer and later a Technical Fellow. In the late 1990s, Microsoft faced intense competition from high-productivity programming products like Java from Sun Microsystems and Borland's Delphi. Microsoft's existing technologies, such as COM+ and Visual Basic, were struggling to compete, and VJ++ itself encountered legal issues related to Java. Hejlsberg strongly advocated for a "revolution" within Microsoft, supporting the creation of an entirely new programming language and set of libraries, which would eventually become C# and the .NET Framework.
7. C# and .NET Framework Design
Since 2000, Anders Hejlsberg has served as the lead architect for the team developing the C# language. He has been a central figure in shaping the core contributions and design philosophy of the .NET Framework. His work on C# has been instrumental in making it a widely adopted and powerful language for various applications, from web development to enterprise solutions. He was also involved in the development of C-Omega, which later evolved into LINQ.
8. TypeScript Development
In 2012, Hejlsberg announced a new Microsoft project: TypeScript. TypeScript is a superset of JavaScript, designed to address the challenges of developing large-scale applications. It provides optional static typing, classes, and interfaces, which enhance code quality, maintainability, and scalability for complex projects. Hejlsberg continues to be a core developer for TypeScript, guiding its evolution and adoption within the web development community.
9. Awards and Recognition
Hejlsberg has received significant accolades for his groundbreaking work in software development. In 2001, he was honored with the Dr. Dobb's Excellence in Programming Award for his extensive contributions to Turbo Pascal, Delphi, C#, and the Microsoft .NET Framework. In 2007, alongside his colleagues Shon Katzenberger, Scott Wiltamuth, Todd Proebsting, Erik Meijer, Peter Hallam, and Peter Sollich, Anders Hejlsberg received a Technical Recognition Award for Outstanding Technical Achievement, specifically for their collective work on the C# language.
10. Impact and Legacy
Anders Hejlsberg's creations have had a profound and lasting impact on the software industry. His early work on Turbo Pascal democratized programming by providing an affordable and fast compiler, making software development accessible to a wider audience. Delphi further revolutionized the field with its visual development capabilities, significantly boosting developer productivity and enabling rapid application creation.
Later, his leadership in the design of C# and his core contributions to the .NET Framework provided a robust and versatile platform for modern software engineering, particularly for enterprise applications and web services. With TypeScript, Hejlsberg addressed the growing complexities of large-scale JavaScript development, offering a solution that enhances code quality, maintainability, and developer experience in the dynamic world of web applications. Collectively, his work has consistently pushed the boundaries of programming language design and development tools, fostering innovation, empowering countless developers, and broadening participation in software creation across various technological landscapes.
11. Published Works
Anders Hejlsberg has co-authored key publications detailing the C# programming language:
- The C# Programming Language, 2nd edition, Addison-Wesley Professional, 2006-06-09
- The C# Programming Language, 3rd edition, Addison-Wesley Professional, 2008-10-18
- The C# Programming Language, 4th edition, Addison-Wesley Professional, October 2010