WintellectRAW: Jeffrey Richter

Welcome to WintellectRAW – featurettes about your favorite authors.  Each month we’ll give you a quick glimpse into the life of a WintellectNOW author – how they got their start, some of their hobbies, their favorite projects, and more!

 

This month we feature Wintellect co-founder, Jeffrey Richter. A Microsoft-proclaimed “Software Legend,” Jeffrey shares with us a little about his life in and out of the software space.   

 

 

WintellectRAW

June 2014: Jeffrey Richter

 

 

 

Here Again. Home is Kirkland, WA – The Seattle suburb where, in addition to housing the Richter family, Costco was started and the Seattle Seahawks team headquarters and training facility were for their first 32 seasons.

 

Finding My Way. In 5th grade I was introduced to computers and programming in school and fell in love instantly. I’ve been doing it ever since.

 

Working Man. My favorite project is, without question, WintellectNOW. I love how I got to be involved in so many aspects of a commercial service. I got to explore the business model, work with lawyers on the contracts, work with authors on content, help with marketing, architect the system, negotiate contracts for companion services, manage the user experience designers and other software developers, etc. And I am so incredibly proud of the end result and excited about its potential.

 

Closer to the Heart. I love to spend time with my family (Legos, computer games, talking, etc.) and I travel a lot to far away continents, countries, cities, and towns.

 

Open Secrets. My best advice for developers is when the code gets too complicated, refactor it into more classes.

 

Ceiling Unlimited. One thing people may not know about me is that I am a licensed helicopter pilot.

 

Vital Signs. My favorite food is, hands down, Macaroni & Cheese. But, chicken teriyaki is a close second. My favorite music is jazz fusion and 1970’s progressive rock (editor’s note: if you are also a fan of 70s progressive rock, the titles of each section will give you a hint as to one of Jeffrey’s favorite bands). My favorite sound is my kids laughing hysterically or singing. My favorite smell dates back to when I was a kid; when I lived in Philadelphia, my house was near the Nabisco factory. Driving by it always smelled so good.

 

Second Nature. If I had a super power, without question, I’d love to be able to fly. Soaring above everything, seeing things from a different perspective, being places you couldn’t normally be, and, of course, just getting from place to place quickly. This is obviously related to me getting my helicopter license.

 

For What It’s Worth. If I could meet anyone, dead or alive, I’d actually like to meet someone from the future so I could see what kind of impact the things we do today affect the lives of people not even born yet. Are we making good choices? Did we do something that profoundly impacts the people of tomorrow? Could I change my behavior today to make a better tomorrow? I’d like to think the things I do today improve the lives of my children, their children, and so on.

 

Jeffrey is the author of several best-selling .NET Framework and Win32 programming books including Windows Runtime via C#,  CLR via C#, 4th Edition, Windows via C/C++, 5th Edition, Programming Server-Side Applications for Microsoft Windows 2000, and Windows 95: A Developer’s Guide. He has been a contributing editor to MSDN Magazine where he authored many feature articles and columns. Jeffrey has also consulted with Microsoft’s .NET Framework and Windows teams for many years. To learn more about his professional life and experience, be sure to visit his bio.

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