In 1999, an up-and-coming software engineer in Switzerland was preparing for a conference in France when he learned that the Swiss computer scientist Niklaus Wirth, a pioneer in the field, was also attending and would be on the same flight. The engineer, Kent Beck, had never met Dr. Wirth. But, he recalled in an interview, upon arriving at the airport he told the gate agent: “My colleague Professor Wirth and I are flying together. Among other feats in computer history, Dr. Wirth had created Pascal, an influential programming language in the early days of personal computing. “It was out of character for me to be that bold,” Mr. Beck said of his duplicity, “but I would have regretted it the rest of my life.”

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Persons: Niklaus Wirth, Kent Beck, Wirth, “, Professor Wirth, Mr, Beck, Taylor Swift, Pascal, ” Locations: Switzerland, France, Swiss