Jean David Ichbiah was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

-born computer scientist

Computer scientist

A computer scientist is a scientist who has acquired knowledge of computer science, the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their application in computer systems....

 and the chief designer (from 1977–1983) of Ada, a general-purpose, strongly typed programming language with certified validated

Verification and Validation

In software project management, software testing, and software engineering, verification and validation is the process of checking that a software system meets specifications and that it fulfills its intended purpose...

 compiler

Compiler

A compiler is a computer program that transforms source code written in a programming language into another computer language...

s.
At the time, he was a member of the Programming Research division at CII Honeywell Bull (CII-HB) in Louveciennes, France. He had previously designed an experimental system implementation language called LIS

LIS (programming language)

LIS was a system implementation programming language designed by Jean Ichbiah, who later designed Ada....

 (1972–1974), based on Pascal

Pascal (programming language)

Pascal is an influential imperative and procedural programming language, designed in 1968/9 and published in 1970 by Niklaus Wirth as a small and efficient language intended to encourage good programming practices using structured programming and data structuring.A derivative known as Object Pascal...

 and Simula (in fact, he had been chairman of the Simula User's Group), and was one of the founding members of IFIP WG 2.4 on Systems Implementation Languages.

Ichbiah's team submitted the language design called "Green" to the competition to choose the United States Department of Defense

United States Department of Defense

The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...

's embedded programming language. When Green was selected in 1978, he continued as chief designer of the language, renamed "Ada". In 1980, Ichbiah left CII-HB and founded the Alsys

Alsys

The company Alsys, SA. was a software development company created to support initial work on the Ada programming language.In July 1995, Alsys merged to become Thomson Software Products ,, which merged into Aonix in 1996....

 corporation in La Celle-Saint-Cloud

La Celle-Saint-Cloud

La Celle-Saint-Cloud is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris from the center.-Transport:...

, which continued language definition to standardize Ada 83, and later went into the Ada compiler business, also supplying special validated compiler systems to NASA

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

, the US Army, and others. He later moved to the Waltham, Massachusetts

Waltham, Massachusetts

Waltham is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, was an early center for the labor movement, and major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution. The original home of the Boston Manufacturing Company, the city was a prototype for 19th century industrial city planning,...

 subsidiary of Alsys.

Ichbiah designed the keyboard layout FITALY

FITALY

FITALY is a keyboard layout specifically optimized for stylus or touch-based input. The design places the most common letters closest to the centre to minimize distance travelled while entering a word...

 which is specifically optimized for stylus

Stylus

A stylus is a writing utensil, or a small tool for some other form of marking or shaping, for example in pottery. The word is also used for a computer accessory . It usually refers to a narrow elongated staff, similar to a modern ballpoint pen. Many styli are heavily curved to be held more easily...

 or touch-based input

Touchscreen

A touchscreen is an electronic visual display that can detect the presence and location of a touch within the display area. The term generally refers to touching the display of the device with a finger or hand. Touchscreens can also sense other passive objects, such as a stylus...

, and subsequently started the Textware company, which sells text entry software for PDA

Personal digital assistant

A personal digital assistant , also known as a palmtop computer, or personal data assistant, is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. Current PDAs often have the ability to connect to the Internet...

s and tablet PC

Tablet computer

A tablet computer, or simply tablet, is a complete mobile computer, larger than a mobile phone or personal digital assistant, integrated into a flat touch screen and primarily operated by touching the screen...

s, as well as text-entry software for medical transcription

Medical transcription

Medical transcription, also known as MT, is an allied health profession, which deals in the process of transcription, or converting voice-recorded reports as dictated by physicians and/or other healthcare professionals, into text format.-History:...

 on PCs.

In 1979, Jean Ichbiah was designated a "chevalier" (knight) of the French Legion of Honor and a "correspondent" of the French Academy of Sciences

French Academy of Sciences

The French Academy of Sciences is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research...

. He received a Certificate of Distinguished Service from the DoD

United States Department of Defense

The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...

 for his work on Ada.

He was a descendant of Jews from Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...

 who emigrated to France.
Jean Ichbiah died from complications of a brain tumor

Brain tumor

A brain tumor is an intracranial solid neoplasm, a tumor within the brain or the central spinal canal.Brain tumors include all tumors inside the cranium or in the central spinal canal...

 on January 26, 2007.

External links

• Jean Ichbiah passes away, press release by the Ada Resource Association
• "Programming pioneer dies — A tribute to Ada's Jean Ichbiah", by Phil Manchester (2007-02-02)
• Obituary by Bertrand Meyer
  Bertrand Meyer
  Bertrand Meyer is an academic, author, and consultant in the field of computer languages. He created the Eiffel programming language.-Education and academic career:...
  
  , as published in SIGSOFT Software Engineering Notes.
• Jean Ichbiah, 66; designed landmark computer language
• Ada inventor Jean Ichbiah dies
• Jean Ichbiah — Members of the French Academy of Sciences
• Ada 83 designer Jean Ichbiah dies, by Ada-Europe, 2007.