What was the name of the employer Guido van Rossum work for in 1991?
Guido van Rossum Guido van Rossum ( ; born 31 January 1956 ) is a Dutch programmer best known as the creator of the Python programming language , for which he was the benevolent dictator for life ( BDFL ) until he stepped down from the position in July 2018 . He remained a member of the Python Steering Council through 2019 , and withdrew from nominations for the 2020 election . Life and education . Van Rossum was born and raised in the Netherlands , where he received a masters degree in mathematics and computer science from the University of Amsterdam in 1982 . He has a brother , Just van Rossum , who is a type designer and programmer who designed the typeface used in the Python Powered logo . Van Rossum lives in Belmont , California , with his wife , Kim Knapp , and their son . According to his home page and Dutch naming conventions , the van in his name is capitalized when he is referred to by surname alone , but not when using his first and last name together . Work . While working at the Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica ( CWI ) , Van Rossum wrote and contributed a glob ( ) routine to BSD Unix in 1986 and helped develop the ABC programming language . He once stated , I try to mention ABCs influence because Im indebted to everything I learned during that project and to the people who worked on it . He also created Grail , an early web browser written in Python , and engaged in discussions about the HTML standard . He has worked for various research institutes , including the Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica ( CWI ) in the Netherlands , the U.S . National Institute of Standards and Technology ( NIST ) , and the Corporation for National Research Initiatives ( CNRI ) . From 2000 until 2003 he worked for Zope corporation . In 2003 Van Rossum left Zope for Elemental Security . While there he worked on a custom programming language for the organization . From 2005 to December 2012 , he worked at Google , where he spent half of his time developing the Python language . In January 2013 , he started working for Dropbox . In October 2019 , Van Rossum officially retired before coming out of retirement the following year to join Microsoft . Python . In December 1989 , Van Rossum had been looking for a hobby programming project that would keep [ him ] occupied during the week around Christmas as his office was closed when he decided to write an interpreter for a new scripting language [ he ] had been thinking about lately : a descendant of ABC that would appeal to Unix/C hackers . He attributes choosing the name Python to being in a slightly irreverent mood ( and a big fan of Monty Pythons Flying Circus ) . He has explained that Pythons predecessor , ABC , was inspired by SETL , noting that ABC co-developer Lambert Meertens had spent a year with the SETL group at NYU before coming up with the final ABC design . In July 2018 , Van Rossum announced that he would be stepping down from the position of BDFL of the Python programming language . 1999 Computer Programming for Everybody proposal . In 1999 , Van Rossum submitted a funding proposal to DARPA called Computer Programming for Everybody , in which he further defined his goals for Python : - An easy and intuitive language just as powerful as major competitors - Open source , so anyone can contribute to its development - Code that is as understandable as plain English - Suitability for everyday tasks , allowing for short development times In 2019 , Python became the second most popular language on GitHub , a social coding website , behind only JavaScript . According to a programming language popularity survey it is consistently among the top 10 most mentioned languages in job postings . Furthermore , Python has been among the 10 most popular programming languages every year since 2004 according to the TIOBE Programming Community Index . Google . At Google , Van Rossum developed Mondrian , a web-based code review system written in Python and used within the company . He named the software after the Dutch painter Piet Mondrian . He named another related software project after Gerrit Rietveld , a Dutch designer . Dropbox . In 2013 , Van Rossum started working at the cloud file storage company Dropbox . In October 2019 , Van Rossum left Dropbox and officially retired . Microsoft . On November 12 , 2020 , Van Rossum announced that he was coming out of retirement to join the Developer Division at Microsoft . Awards . - At the 2002 FOSDEM conference in Brussels , Van Rossum received the 2001 Award for the Advancement of Free Software from the Free Software Foundation ( FSF ) for his work on Python . - In May 2003 , he received a NLUUG Award . - In 2006 , he was recognized as a Distinguished Engineer by the Association for Computing Machinery . - In 2018 , he was made a Fellow of the Computer History museum . - In 2019 , he was awarded the honorary title of Dijkstra Fellow by CWI . External links . - The History of Python Guidos blog on the History of Python and design decisions - Computer Programming for Everybody - Interview with Guido van Rossum on FLOSS Weekly - Guido van Rossum Guidos interview on Workspiration - Computerworld Interview with Guido van Rossum on Python - Google App Engine — Run your web applications on Googles infrastructure — technical talk on Google App Engine given by Guido van Rossum at Stanford University . ( online video archive )