Paul Graham (programmer)

Paul Graham
Paul Graham
Born	November 13, 1964 (age 61); England, United Kingdom
Occupation(s)	Computer scientist, author, entrepreneur, investor
Known for	Developing Arc programming language; founding Viaweb; co-founding Y Combinator; writing essays and books; creating Hacker News
Notable work	On Lisp, ANSI Common Lisp, Hackers & Painters

Paul Graham (; born November 13, 1964) is a British-American computer scientist, author, entrepreneur, and investor. He is recognized for developing the programming language Arc, founding the startup Viaweb (which later became the Yahoo! Store), co-founding the seed funding and startup accelerator firm Y Combinator, writing influential essays and books, and creating the technology news platform Hacker News.

His literary contributions include programming titles such as On Lisp, ANSI Common Lisp, and Hackers & Painters. Technology writer Steven Levy has referred to him as a "hacker philosopher."

Originally from England, Graham holds citizenship in both the United Kingdom and the United States. After spending 48 years residing in the U.S., where he completed his academic pursuits, he moved back to England in 2016.

Education and early life

In 1968, Graham’s family relocated to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he attended Gateway High School. His fascination with science and mathematics was nurtured by his father, who was a nuclear physicist.

He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from Cornell University in 1986. Subsequently, he earned a Master of Science in 1988 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1990, both specializing in computer science at Harvard University. Additionally, Graham pursued studies in fine arts and painting at the Rhode Island School of Design and the Accademia di Belle Arti located in Florence.

Career

Graham co-founded Viaweb with Robert Morris in 1996, soon joined by Trevor Blackwell. Viaweb is regarded as one of the pioneering application service providers. Graham secured a patent related to web application technology derived from this endeavor. The software for Viaweb, primarily developed using Common Lisp, allowed users to build their own online stores. In 1998, following a recommendation from Ali Partovi, Viaweb was acquired by Yahoo! for 455,000 shares valued at $49.6 million, forming the foundation for the Yahoo! Store.

Graham gained prominence through his essays on programming and entrepreneurship, which were collected in Hackers & Painters published by O'Reilly Media. Starting in 2001, he worked on creating a new Lisp variant called Arc, which was publicly released in 2008. Arc has been utilized internally at Y Combinator for initiatives such as Hacker News.

In 2005, together with Trevor Blackwell, Jessica Livingston, and Robert Morris, Graham established Y Combinator, an organization that offers seed capital to startups with an emphasis on founders possessing strong technical skills. To date, Y Combinator has funded more than 1300 startups, including prominent companies like Reddit, Twitch, Dropbox, Airbnb, and Stripe.

In 2008, BusinessWeek listed Graham among "The 25 Most Influential People on the Web." Towards the end of 2011, he prohibited companies endorsing the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) from participating in Y Combinator's Demo Day events.

Graham stepped down from his operational role at Y Combinator in February 2014. In October 2019, he revealed a specification for another Lisp dialect named Bel, which is self-hosted.

Graham's hierarchy of disagreement

In his 2008 essay "How to Disagree," Graham introduced a seven-tiered framework for classifying types of argument. He pointed out that more advanced forms of disagreement occur less frequently and tend to reduce animosity while enhancing overall satisfaction. Graham emphasized that sophisticated insults are no improvement over blunt name-calling, as both lower categories target individuals personally and often incite resentment. Conversely, the upper levels concentrate on critiquing ideas themselves, resulting in discussions that are more productive and enlightening.

The Blub paradox

Graham created the fictional programming language Blub to demonstrate a scale of language expressiveness beyond mere Turing completeness. Situated at an intermediate level of abstraction, Blub surpasses languages like Cobol or machine language in capability but falls short of more sophisticated languages. The paradox illustrates how programmers can readily identify the deficiencies in languages less powerful than their own, yet fail to recognize the superior capabilities of more advanced languages, often dismissing them as overly complicated.

This "Blub paradox" suggests that only those proficient in the most potent programming languages can truly appreciate differences in expressive power. It has become influential in programming discussions and is frequently referenced by prominent figures such as Joel Spolsky.

Personal life

Graham wed Jessica Livingston in 2008. The couple has two children and has been living in England since 2016.

External links