Lars Bak | |
|---|---|
 Computer programmer Lars Bak | |
| Born | 1965; 61 years ago (1965)[1] |
| Occupation | Computerprogrammer |
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Known for | JavaScript expert, Virtual machine innovator |
| Notable work | Dart |
| Awards | SeniorDahl–Nygaard Prize |
Lars Bak (born 1965)[1] is a Danishcomputer programmer. He is known as aJavaScript expert and for his work onvirtual machines. He formerly worked forGoogle, having contributed to theChromeweb browser as the lead developer of theV8 JavaScript engine.
Bak studied atAarhus University in Denmark, receiving an MS degree incomputer science in 1988 after which he became active in designing and implementingobject-orientedvirtual machines. He has been awarded the 2018 SeniorDahl–Nygaard Prize.[2]
After participating in the design and implementation of theBETA Mjølner System, in 1991 he joined the research group for theprogramming languageSelf atSun Microsystems Laboratories inPalo Alto,California. During his time there, he developed a programming environment for Self, and added several enhancements to the virtual machine.
In 1994, he joinedLongView Technologies LLC, where he designed and implemented high performance virtual machines for bothSmalltalk andJava. After Sun Microsystems acquired LongView in 1997, Bak became engineering manager and technical lead in theHotSpot team at Sun's Java Software Division where he developed a high-performanceJava virtual machine.[3][4]
In 2002, after returning to Aarhus, Denmark, Bak founded OOVM, a company which developedsoftware formobile phones. In 2004, he sold it to a Swiss company,Esmertec.[5]
In 2006, Bak joined Google to work on theChrome browser. He did not return to theUnited States, preferring to work in Denmark where his daughters were also receiving their education.[1] With a team of 12 engineers, Bak coordinated the development of theV8 JavaScript interpreter for Chrome, named after theV8 engine.[6]
Bak co-developed theDart programming language presented at the 2011 Goto conference inAarhus, Denmark.[7]
In 2017, Bak left Google and soon afterward co-founded a startup with Kasper Lund calledToit,[8] which is building a new programming language called Toit and a platform forInternet of things systems.[9][10]
Bak holds 18U.S. Patents for software, in the field ofvirtual machine programming.[11] In 2010, afterOracle boughtSun and with Lars Bak working for Google, Oracle sued Google for infringing on several software patents and amongst them was the "Interpreting Functions Utilizing a Hybrid of Virtual and Native Machine Instructions" patent[12] filed by Lars Bak et al.
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