1931-

Norwegian computer scientist who, with Kirsten Nygaard, developed Simula, the first object-oriented programming language. Object-oriented programming was a completely new paradigm in computer programming and has had a profound impact on the way in which computer programs are written. Developed in the 1960s, object-oriented programming works with "objects," or predefined chunks of program that more or less stand alone and can be assembled like building blocks into new, more complex programs.