Editing Kent Pitman

{{Infobox scientist
| honorific_prefix          =
| name                      = Kent M. Pitman
| honorific_suffix          = 
| native_name               = 
| native_name_lang          = 
| image                     = <!-- Filename only, no "File:" prefix -->
| image_size                = 
| image_upright             = 
| alt                       = 
| caption                   = 
| birth_name                = <!-- if different from "name" -->
| birth_date                = <!--{{birth date |YYYY|MM|DD}}-->
| birth_place               = United States
| death_date                = <!--{{death date and age |YYYY|MM|DD |YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date then birth date)-->
| death_place               = 
| death_cause               = 
| resting_place             = 
| resting_place_coordinates = <!--{{coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline,title}}-->
| home_town                 = 
| other_names               = 
| pronounce                 = 
| residence                 = 
| citizenship               = United States
| nationality               = 
| fields                    = [[Computer science]], [[Computer programming|programming]]
| workplaces                = [[Harlequin (software company)|Harlequin]], HyperMeta Inc.
| patrons                   = 
| education                 = 
| alma_mater                = [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT)
| thesis_title              = <!--(or | thesis1_title = and | thesis2_title = )-->
| thesis_url                = <!--(or | thesis1_url  = and | thesis2_url = )-->
| thesis_year               = <!--(or | thesis1_year = and | thesis2_year = )-->
| doctoral_advisor          = <!--(or | doctoral_advisors = )-->
| academic_advisors         = 
| doctoral_students         = 
| notable_students          = 
| known_for                 = [[Lisp (programming language)|Lisp]], [[Scheme (programming language)|Scheme]], HyperMeta Inc.
| awards                    = 
| author_abbrev_bot         = 
| author_abbrev_zoo         = 
| spouse                    = <!--(or | spouses = )-->
| partner                   = <!--(or | partners = )-->
| children                  = 
| signature                 = <!-- Filename only -->
| signature_alt             = 
| website                   = {{URL|www.nhplace.com}}
| footnotes                 =  
}}
'''Kent M. Pitman''' ('''KMP''')<!-- He is sometimes known by his initials. --> is a [[programmer]] who has been involved for many years in the design, implementation, and use of systems based on the programming languages [[Lisp (programming language)|Lisp]] and [[Scheme (programming language)|Scheme]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.maclisp.info/animal/ |title=KMP’s Animal Game}}</ref> {{As of|since=y|2010}}, he has been President of HyperMeta Inc.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hypermeta.com/ |title=HyperMeta Inc.}}</ref>

Pitman was chair of the ad hoc group (part of X3J13) that designed the [[Common Lisp#Other types|Common Lisp]] [[Exception handling#Condition systems|Error and Condition System]] and is author of the proposal document that was ultimately adopted,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cs.cmu.edu/Groups/AI/html/cltl/clm/node312.html |title=Common Lisp: the Language, 2nd Edition: Chapter 29: Conditions |last=Pitman |first=Kent M. |last2=Steele Jr. |first2=Guy L. |author-link2=Guy L. Steele Jr. |date=24 October 1995 |website=CMU Artificial Intelligence Repository |publisher=Carnegie Mellon University |access-date=2019-01-04}}</ref> and many papers on Lisp programming and [[computer programming]] in general.

While in [[high school]], he saw output from one of the ''guess the animal'' pseudo-[[artificial intelligence]] (AI) games then popular. He considered implementing a version of the program in [[BASIC]], but once at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT), instead he implemented it in several [[Dialect (computing)|dialects]] of Lisp, including [[Maclisp]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.maclisp.info/animal/faq.html |title=KMP’s Animal Game: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) |website=MACLISP.info |access-date=2019-01-04}}</ref>

He was a technical contributor to [[X3J13]], the [[American National Standards Institute]] (ANSI) subcommittee that standardized [[Common Lisp]] and contributed to the design of the programming language. He prepared the document that became ANSI Common Lisp, the [[Common Lisp HyperSpec]] (a [[hypertext]] conversion of the [[Technical standard|standard]]),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lisp.org/HyperSpec/FrontMatter/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020805060924/http://www.lisp.org/HyperSpec/FrontMatter/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2002-08-05 |title=Common Lisp HyperSpec}}</ref> and the document that became [[International Organization for Standardization]] (ISO) [[ISLISP]]. He can often be found on the [[Usenet]] [[newsgroup]] <code>comp.lang.lisp</code>,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!search/Kent$20Pitman |title=Kent Pitman related posts, list |website=Google Groups |access-date=2019-01-04}}</ref> where he is involved in discussions about Lisp and computer programming, and insider perspectives on Lisp evolution and Common Lisp standardization. In some posts there, he has expressed his opinion on [[open-source software]], including open source implementations of Lisp and Scheme, as something that should be judged individually on its essential merits, rather than automatically considered good merely by being free or open.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Official website|www.nhplace.com}}

{{Lisp programming language}}
{{Portal bar|Biography}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitman, Kent}}
[[Category:Lisp (programming language) people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni]]