Programmer who spearheaded Swift to exit Apple [u]
Apple's director in charge of Xcode, Swift, and other development tools -- Chris Lattner -- will be leaving the company later in January, according to an announcement through the official Swift mailing list.
Ted Kremenek will be taking over as the project lead on Swift, Lattner wrote in a message spotted by MacStories. Lattner nevertheless said that he will "remain an active member of the Swift Core Team."
The director didn't say who would be taking over his broader duties, but did note that his departure involves "an opportunity in another space."
He also suggested that the move shouldn't impact day-to-day matters with the Swift Core Team, and that Swift 4 should be a "really strong release" with Kremenek at the helm. The team will be shifting its focus to Swift 4 after primary 3.1 development concludes on Jan. 16.
Lattner is perhaps best known as the main figure behind LLVM, a set of modular compiler and toolchain technologies he worked on as a graduate student. After joining Apple in 2005, LLVM was intregrated into Apple's own toolset.
Indeed Lattner is responsible for a good deal of Swift as well. Work on the programming language began in 2010, though it was only launched four years later.
Swift is meant mostly to simplify development for Apple platforms, addressing a number of common complaints while performing faster. The language can also be used with Linux.
Update: Lattner has left Apple for Tesla where he will serve as Vice President of Autopilot Software, the company said in a statement today.
Ted Kremenek will be taking over as the project lead on Swift, Lattner wrote in a message spotted by MacStories. Lattner nevertheless said that he will "remain an active member of the Swift Core Team."
The director didn't say who would be taking over his broader duties, but did note that his departure involves "an opportunity in another space."
He also suggested that the move shouldn't impact day-to-day matters with the Swift Core Team, and that Swift 4 should be a "really strong release" with Kremenek at the helm. The team will be shifting its focus to Swift 4 after primary 3.1 development concludes on Jan. 16.
Lattner is perhaps best known as the main figure behind LLVM, a set of modular compiler and toolchain technologies he worked on as a graduate student. After joining Apple in 2005, LLVM was intregrated into Apple's own toolset.
Indeed Lattner is responsible for a good deal of Swift as well. Work on the programming language began in 2010, though it was only launched four years later.
Swift is meant mostly to simplify development for Apple platforms, addressing a number of common complaints while performing faster. The language can also be used with Linux.
Update: Lattner has left Apple for Tesla where he will serve as Vice President of Autopilot Software, the company said in a statement today.
Comments
Or maybe he just becomes a professor....
(and that is coming from someone that still has a soft spot for IBM and wish them well)
Emphasis mine:
This is big! How many people do we know about that have created a Programming Language -- especially in this decade, considering those entrenched for the last 20-30 years.
IDK if a small startup would have the leverage to do what needs to be done with Swift -- giving birth to a new Language and its tools.
He appeared to have freedom/independence at Apple. Likely, he would have the same at IBM -- though with different goals.
Possibly, he is interested a higher level of abstraction than just another language/system for writing code.
Maybe, he is just restless... Approaching that magic age of 40, where you want to work for yourself and do it your way!
Oh well, good luck to him.
Right? This stuff practically never happens.
Everyone at Apple, regardless of position, pay, contribution, and other opportunities, stays at Apple, all the time, for the rest of their lives, even after death.
Why, I just had a glimpse of a mummified Bertrand Serlet being wheeled toward the Apple HQ cafeteria! I think he's having the veggie wrap.
My initial take is that Chris is being hired because: