Image source: wikipedia
Every industry has its revolutionists. Rasmus is one, and his immense contribution to programming cannot go unnoticed. Born on 22nd November 1968, Rasmus went to the University of Waterloo and is a distinguished engineer. He is popular for his role in scripting the PHP language. Every elite programmer is using the language, and most of the programs running now worldwide are PHP built. The developer born in Qeqertarsuaq, Greenland, Denmark, has worked with other industry greats like Andi Gutsman, S. Caraveo, and Zeev Suraski. As he engaged other great minds, he shared and gained experience as the others did.
Rasmus Early Life
Every pro was once a beginner. Rasmus is a seasoned programmer but had beginnings too. Here’s his journey. 12 years after Rasmus’ birth, his family shifted to Canada from Disko Island in Greenland. They stayed there for three years before moving again to King City, Ontario. During this time, Rasmus was in school already. He graduated in 1988 from the King City Secondary School.
Rasmus’s attendance at the University of Waterloo came to a fine conclusion when he graduated in 1993. This was only five years after leaving secondary school. It is here that Rasmus’ expertise was shown the light. He honed his skills by studying a Bachelor of Applied Science in Systems Design Engineering. Technical as the course was, Rasmus had a successful academic life.
His contributions in various languages made him a force to reckon with. This man Rasmus made a vital contribution to the Apache HTTP Server. Not only that, but he also made an addition of the LIMIT clause to the MySQL database management system. 1995 was a special year for both Lerdorf and the programming world. PHP’s first version was released. Behind the launch was Rasmus. Since then, the big mind has had many great contributions and continues to be an asset to the world of software.
Career
Even before employment, Rasmus was already making an impact in the programming industry. He joined Yahoo! Inc. in 2002 and lasted 7 years – leaving in November 2009. All these years, he was serving as an Infrastructure Architecture Engineer. The following year after leaving Yahoo, Rasmus joined WePay. He was boarded to help build their application programming interface (API).
With these abilities and experience, Rasmus was consulted by several businesses, especially startups. This was in around 2011 and years to come. In 2012 and 2013, Lerdorf worked at Etsy and Jelastic, respectively. He served different roles there.
Other than building software, Rasmus is a public speaker, but in his specialization. He talks about development and solidity. He did a presentation at an Open Source Conference in 2007. In his talk, he pointed out threats presentations made in that event faced. This was one reason he was one and still is one of the most sought after programming gurus.
Other than advisory, the successful programmer talks about PHP. Being the brain behind the language, he understands how far PHP has come. For the 25 years the language has been around, Rasmus has seen it grow and become better. His insightful speeches make him a highly sought individual.
Awards and Achievements
It is one thing to be resilient and totally different from being an award winner. Rasmus is both. He has been resilient in his career as well as an award winner. 2003 saw him win one of the most prestigious innovation awards. He was recognized as one of the 100 best creatives aged below 35. This recognition came from the MIT Technology Review TR100.
Apart from the MIT recognition, Rasmus has been consulted by many top-notch organizations. That is a clear show of how appreciated he and his abilities are. Many programming events bring him on board, and his opinion sought to show how valuable he is.
Moving from one top organization to another may also be a sign of greatness. The best organizations look for the best talents and are willing to do anything to acquire a highly skilled human resource. Rasmus has worked for several great companies. His career movements show these organizations appreciated him. An opportunity only a few get to experience.
Lerdorf’s Website
It is believed Rasmus’s urge to build PHP came after he tried creating a website only to face challenges. From there, he chose to make his own website building program. If he is that good, his website must be perfect too—Lerdorf’s website toys.lerdorf.com.
The website looks and feels great. It clearly represents a seasoned programmer. It is easy to navigate through upward or downward scrolling. A mobile-friendly site is also recommended anytime. This man’s site is mobile friendly and fast, among other positive qualities. It represents a personality who’s recognized worldwide for being the pioneer behind the web design revolution.
The most interesting part of this website is the wealth of technical knowledge held there. Rasmus details why he does somethings and how he does them. He shares his expertise on the website and helps other programmers learn a lot from him. Not only does he share insightful content, but he also does so regularly.
Lerdorf is not only represented online by his website. He is also available on other social media platforms like Twitter. He is known for his willingness to share what he knows. A quality that makes him highly sought for by organizations in a mission to spread knowledge.
Conclusion
This rich, experienced, and popular PHP pioneer is known and appreciated for his great contribution to the programming world. He is good at what he does and willingly shares what he knows to help others grow in their expertise. Rasmus has worked for different multinational organizations both as a full-time employee and as a consultant. He has been recognized on several occasions, and the most notable one was the MIT top 100 best programmers. As he continues to master his art, he inspires a whole generation of upcoming programmers.