Anders Hejlsberg
Born 1960 · Age 66
Danish software engineer and programming-language designer; original author of Turbo Pascal, chief architect of Delphi, lead architect of C#, and core developer of TypeScript; Microsoft Technical Fellow.
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Life & Career Timeline
First significant exposure to computing (HP 2100 at school)
As a mid-teen in school, Hejlsberg used an HP 2100 minicomputer (32K memory), learning low-level programming and ALGOL, sparking his interest in computing.
Enrolled at Technical University of Denmark (Electrical Engineering)
Began formal studies in electrical engineering at DTU (later left without completing a degree, per some sources).
Began writing programs for Nascom microcomputer
Started developing software for Z80-based Nascom machines; created an early Pascal compiler and other system software.
Co-founded PolyData / PolyLab (early computer company)
Founded a Copenhagen computer company (distributing Nascom kits and producing software); commercialized early compiler work.
Released Pascal compiler for Nascom (early PolyPascal)
Released a Pascal compiler for Nascom-2 (marketed initially as Blue Label Software Pascal), demonstrating compiler design skill.
Rewrote compiler for CP/M and DOS (Compas/PolyPascal)
Ported and rewrote the compiler for CP/M and DOS, marketed as Compas Pascal and later PolyPascal — predecessor to Turbo Pascal.
PolyPascal licensed to Borland under royalty deal
Borland licensed the compiler core from Hejlsberg's company; he remained consultant to Borland while at PolyData.
Turbo Pascal initial release (Borland product)
Borland licensed Hejlsberg's compiler core; Turbo Pascal released (Nov 1983) as an integrated, fast, low-cost Pascal development system.
Turbo Pascal sales milestone: ~250,000 copies
Turbo Pascal sold approximately 250,000 copies within its first ~18 months, showing rapid adoption.
Turbo Prolog released (Borland licensed product)
Borland released Turbo Prolog (1986) as part of the 'Turbo' family, extending the IDE concept to Prolog.
Turbo C released (Borland expansion of Turbo family)
Borland extended the Turbo line with Turbo C (1987), applying the fast IDE model to C.
Turbo Pascal 5.5 (object-oriented features)
Turbo Pascal 5.5 introduced OOP features (classes, inheritance), modernizing Pascal for advanced development.
Joined Borland as Chief Engineer and moved to California
Amid PolyData financial stress, Hejlsberg moved to California and joined Borland full-time in 1989, trading royalties for equity.
Turbo C++ released
Borland released Turbo C++ (1990), continuing the 'Turbo' IDE model into C++.
Turbo Pascal cumulative sales exceed ~2 million copies (early 1990s)
By the early 1990s Turbo Pascal's cumulative sales reached approximately 2 million units, fueling Borland's growth.
Married Liz Hejlsberg
Personal milestone: married (sources list spouse Liz Hejlsberg, married in 1994).
Delphi 1 released (chief architect)
Delphi 1 (released Feb 14, 1995) launched as an Object Pascal RAD environment with the Visual Component Library; Hejlsberg was chief architect.
Left Borland and joined Microsoft (accepted signing bonus)
Left Borland in Oct 1996 and joined Microsoft to work on Java tools (Visual J++); Microsoft offered a signing bonus that was doubled to $1,000,000 after a counter-offer from Borland.
Worked on Visual J++ and Windows Foundation Classes at Microsoft
One of first projects at Microsoft was Visual J++ and related Windows Foundation Classes (WFC), applying his IDE and language experience.
Began leading design of C# (project start)
Hejlsberg began leading the design of a new language at Microsoft (C#) to combine productivity, safety, and modern OO features; initial design around late 1998.
Promoted to Microsoft Distinguished Engineer
Promoted to Distinguished Engineer and lead architect for C# and participant in the .NET initiative.
Received Dr. Dobb's Excellence in Programming Award
Awarded the 2001 Dr. Dobb's Excellence in Programming Award for work on Turbo Pascal, Delphi, C# and the .NET Framework.
C# 1.0 released with .NET; ECMA-334 standardization
C# shipped as part of the initial .NET Framework (2002); language standardized as ECMA-334 in 2002, enabling cross-vendor adoption.
Inducted into InfoWorld Hall of Fame (for C#)
Recognized by InfoWorld for creation of C#.
Featured on Microsoft 'Behind the Code' (video interview)
Appeared in the 'Behind the Code with Anders Hejlsberg' episode (July 26, 2005), discussing his career and design philosophy.
Published 'The C# Programming Language' (2nd edition)
Co-authored the 2nd edition (Addison-Wesley), documenting modern C# features and language design.
Microsoft Technical Recognition Award (C# team)
Hejlsberg and colleagues received Microsoft Technical Recognition Award for Outstanding Technical Achievement for work on C#.
Spoke at JAOO Aarhus (conference) and other major conferences
Delivered keynote/talks on the future of programming languages (e.g., JAOO Aarhus 2008), continuing public leadership in language design.
Published 'The C# Programming Language' (3rd edition)
Co-authored the 3rd edition (Addison-Wesley Professional) reflecting C# language evolution.
Appointed Microsoft Technical Fellow
Named a Microsoft Technical Fellow (one of the company's highest technical honors) recognizing leadership in languages and compilers.
Conceived TypeScript internally at Microsoft
Conceived a statically typed superset of JavaScript to improve maintainability of large codebases; design work began around 2010.
Published 'The C# Programming Language' (4th edition)
Co-authored the 4th edition (Oct 2010), covering newer C# features and design rationale.
Announced TypeScript project publicly
Hejlsberg announced TypeScript as a Microsoft project (blog post Mar 10, 2012); positioned as a typed superset of JavaScript compiling to JS.
TypeScript initial public release
TypeScript had its first public release (Oct 2012), making the language available to the open-source community.
TypeScript v0.9 release (full generics support)
TypeScript 0.9 (June 2013) introduced key improvements including comprehensive generics support.
Spoke at Microsoft Build: 'Look Back' on C#
Presented at Microsoft Build 2019 on the history and evolution of C#, reinforcing his role as language steward.
Continued stewardship of C# and contributions to .NET
Ongoing core involvement in C# language design and .NET runtime improvements through the 2020s.
C# 12 introduced language features (primary constructors)
C# continued evolving with new features in C# 12 (2023), reflecting Hejlsberg-led language evolution.
C# 13 enhancements announced
C# 13 (2024) added further improvements to collections and locking mechanisms, ongoing evolution under his leadership.
TypeScript widely adopted; major GitHub contributor growth milestone
By 2025 TypeScript had become one of the most contributed languages on GitHub, with large community and enterprise adoption (sources cite >1M new contributors in 2025).
Ongoing role: Microsoft Technical Fellow and core developer on TypeScript
As of 2025, Hejlsberg holds Technical Fellow title and continues to lead or shape TypeScript and C# work, with focus on language features and AI-assisted developer tooling.
Key Achievement Ages
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