Occupation Computer scientist Name Christophe Dinechin | Role Video Game Designer | |
Known for XL programming language
Alpha Waves | ||
Christophe de Dinechin is a French computer scientist, with contributions in video games, programming languages and operating systems.
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Programming languages
The designer of the XL programming language and associated concept programming methodology, de Dinechin also contributed to C++, notably a high-performance exception handling implementation that became a de facto standard in the industry. de Dinechin was one of the proponents of a portable C++ ABI, initially developed for Itanium, but now widely used across platforms.
Video games
As initial developer of Alpha Waves, a "groundbreaking" Atari ST game (probably the first 3D platform game), de Dinechin heavily influenced Frederick Raynal, the main developer of Alone in the Dark. de Dinechin also wrote a few viral games for HP-48 calculators, and was the first person to take advantage of hardware-scrolling on these machines.
Operating systems design
In the early 2000s, he worked as a software architect for HP-UX, and was the initial designer of HP's virtualisation platform for Itanium servers, HP Integrity Virtual Machines. He was awarded 10 US patents for this work.
Other work
Christophe de Dinechin did the initial port of Emacs to the Aqua user interface. He wrote a variety of open-source drivers for the HP DE200C Digital Entertainment Center, turning it from a web-connected CD Player into a true digital video recorder.
Christophe de Dinechin is currently CEO of Taodyne, a company that develops a 3D animation tool, using his XL programming language to describe dynamic documents.