Christopher Strachey

Christopher Strachey
Early computer printout of Christopher Strachey in the Bodleian Library, Oxford
Born(1916-11-16)16 November 1916
Hampstead, England
Died18 May 1975(1975-05-18) (aged 58)
Oxford, England
CitizenshipBritish
EducationGresham's School
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge (BA)
Known forCPL, denotational semantics, Fundamental Concepts in Programming Languages, time-sharing
Parent(s)Oliver Strachey
Ray Costelloe
Scientific career
FieldsComputer Science
InstitutionsUniversity of Cambridge,
University of Oxford
St Edmund's School, Canterbury
Harrow School
Doctoral studentsPeter Mosses
David Turner

Christopher S. Strachey (/ˈstri/; 16 November 1916 – 18 May 1975) was a British computer scientist. He was one of the founders of denotational semantics, and a pioneer in programming language design and computer time-sharing. He has also been credited as possibly being the first developer of a video game and for coining terms such as polymorphism and referential transparency that are still widely used by developers today. He was a member of the Strachey family, prominent in government, arts, administration, and academia.