# Edsger Dijkstra

Edsger Dijkstra was a Dutch computer scientist and programmer who made fundamental contributions to the theory and development of structured programming, concurrency, and algorithm design. His 1959 Dijkstra's algorithm for finding the shortest path in a graph is one of the most widely known and applied algorithms in computer science, used in GPS navigation, internet routing, and countless other applications. He received the Turing Award in 1972 and his famous letter "Go To Statement Considered Harmful" (1968) helped shift programming away from unstructured code toward the modern structured paradigm.

## Quick Facts

- **Born:** May 11, 1930
- **Birthplace:** Rotterdam, Netherlands
- **Nationality:** Dutch
- **Occupation:** Computer Scientist / Programmer
- **Category:** Scholars & Educators
- **Also Known As:** EWD, Father of Structured Programming

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Source: https://peoplebio.info/p/edsger-dijkstra