Tim Anderson (programmer): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 05:10, 28 June 2023

Revision as of 06:22, 28 June 2023

Line 5:

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}

{{Multiple issues|{{BLP sourcesnotability|date=January 2023}}

{{notability|date=January 2023}}}}

{{Short description|American computer programmer}}

'''Tim Anderson''' is an American [[computer programmer]] best known for co-creating the [[adventure game]] ''[[Zork]]'',<ref>{{Cite news |last=Woyke |first=Elizabeth |date=August 22, 2017 |title=The Enduring Legacy of Zork |work=MIT Technology Review |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/2017/08/22/149560/the-enduring-legacy-of-zork/}}</ref> one of the first works of [[interactive fiction]] and an early descendant of ''[[Colossal Cave Adventure|ADVENT]]'' (also known as ''Colossal Cave Adventure'').<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 2, 2014 |title=GDC 2014 - Zork Post-Mortem |url=https://adventuregamers.com/articles/view/26224 |website=Adventure Gamers}}</ref> Anderson obtained his undergraduate from [[MIT]] in 1975, and his [[Master of Science|masters]] in 1977, returning shortly after to develop ''Zork.''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Marcott |first=Amy |date=July 15, 2009 |title=Five MIT-Developed Video Games that Revolutionized the Industry |url=https://alum.mit.edu/slice/five-mit-developed-video-games-revolutionized-industry |website=Slice of MIT}}</ref> The game was developed from 1977 to 1979 in the [[MDL programming language]] on a DEC [[PDP-10]] computer by Anderson, [[Marc Blank]], [[Bruce Daniels]], and [[Dave Lebling]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lammle |first=Rob |date=June 15, 2014 |title=A Brief History of Zork |url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/29885/eaten-grue-brief-history-zork}}</ref> All four were members of the Dynamic Modeling Group at the [[MIT]] Laboratory for Computer Science.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Anderson |first=Tim |last2=Galley |first2=Stu |title=The History of Zork |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116035446/http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Infocom/Articles/NZT/zorkhist.html |access-date=June 27, 2023}}</ref> After the success of ''Zork'', Anderson and the other members of the team would go on to found [[Infocom]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nooney |first=Laine |date=Fall 2017 |title=Let's Begin Again |journal=American Journal of Play |volume=10}}</ref>

{{Infobox person

| name = Tim Anderson

| image =

| image_size =

| caption =

| birth_date = February 1954

| birth_place =

| alma_mater = [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] {{small|([[Bachelor of Science|BSc]], 1975; [[Master of Science|MS]], 1983)}}

| death_date =

| death_place =

| occupation = [[Video game designer]], [[computer programmer]]

| spouse =

| known_for = ''[[Zork]]'', co-founder of [[Infocom]]

}}

'''Tim Anderson''' is an American [[computer programmer]] best known for co-creating the [[adventure game]] ''[[Zork]]'',<ref>{{Cite news |last=Woyke |first=Elizabeth |date=August 22, 2017 |title=The Enduring Legacy of Zork |work=MIT Technology Review |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/2017/08/22/149560/the-enduring-legacy-of-zork/}}</ref> one of the first works of [[interactive fiction]] and an early descendant of ''[[Colossal Cave Adventure|ADVENT]]'' (also known as ''Colossal Cave Adventure'').<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 2, 2014 |title=GDC 2014 - Zork Post-Mortem |url=https://adventuregamers.com/articles/view/26224 |website=Adventure Gamers}}</ref> Anderson obtained his undergraduate from [[MIT]] in 1975, and his [[Master of Science|masters]] in 1977, returning shortly after to develop ''Zork.''<ref>{{Cite webwas |last=Marcott |first=Amy |date=July 15, 2009 |title=Five MIT-Developed Video Games that Revolutionized the Industry |url=https://alum.mit.edu/slice/five-mit-developed-video-games-revolutionized-industry |website=Slice of MIT}}</ref> The game wasoriginally developed from 1977 to 1979 in the [[MDL programming language]] on a DEC [[PDP-10]] computer by Anderson, [[Marc Blank]], [[Bruce Daniels]], and [[Dave Lebling]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lammle |first=Rob |date=June 15, 2014 |title=A Brief History of Zork |url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/29885/eaten-grue-brief-history-zork}}</ref> All four were members of the Dynamic Modeling Group at the [[MIT]] Laboratory for Computer Science.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Anderson |first=Tim |last2=Galley |first2=Stu |title=The History of Zork |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116035446/http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Infocom/Articles/NZT/zorkhist.html |access-date=June 27, 2023}}</ref> After the success of ''Zork'', Anderson and the other members of the team would go on to found [[Infocom]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nooney |first=Laine |date=Fall 2017 |title=Let's Begin Again |journal=American Journal of Play |volume=10}}</ref>

==Personal life==

Anderson obtained his undergraduate from MIT in 1975, and his masters in 1977, both in Computer science.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Marcott |first=Amy |date=July 15, 2009 |title=Five MIT-Developed Video Games that Revolutionized the Industry |url=https://alum.mit.edu/slice/five-mit-developed-video-games-revolutionized-industry |website=Slice of MIT}}</ref> Since 1996 Anderson has lived in [[Sudbury, Massachusetts]], running in two elections for trustee of the [[Goodnow Library]] in 2022 and 2023, however he was not elected either time.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McNamara |first=Neal |date=2023-03-22 |title=Sudbury 2023 Candidate Profile: Timothy Anderson, Goodnow Board |url=https://patch.com/massachusetts/sudbury/sudbury-2023-candidate-profile-timothy-anderson-goodnow-board |access-date= |website=Sudbury Patch |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Razzaq |first=Zane |date=March 10, 2022 |title=Friends again? Four vie for two seats on Sudbury Board of Library Trustees |url=https://www.metrowestdailynews.com/story/news/2022/03/10/four-vie-two-seats-board-library-trustees-sudbury-ma/9319752002/ |access-date= |website=MetroWest Daily News |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Elections Archive |url=https://sudbury.ma.us/elections/ |website=Sudbury Massachusetts}}</ref>

==References==