I will write this page. If anyone disagrees, take the name out.
- DonKnuth, creator of TeX, MetaFont, LiterateProgramming and author of TheArtOfComputerProgramming.
- AlanTuring, for the TuringMachine (mathematical, and consciously on the topic of computers)
- AdaLovelace, for the first software
- WardCunningham (at least here ;) )
- KentBeck
- MartinFowler
- ErichGamma
- CharlesBabbage, he tried to made it with mechanics, and he got it right
- Very important, but he was a hardware guy, not software
- AlonzoChurch, for the lambda calculus
- Important work, but he was a mathematician and did not have computers in mind
Everyone? Mostly everyone.
Martin Fowler is still a bit anti-RDBMS for my tastes. He still proposes using OO-built navigational structures in place of or in addition to (OnceAndOnlyOnce violation) the database. He also tends to "see" things as subtypes, which I tend not to find a safe long-term design decision choice (ThereAreNoTypes). -- top OnceAndOnlyOnceDoesNotImplyGoldenHammer