A new fabulous adventure
Tomorrow, the 30th of November, 2012, is the first day of my fifth decade here on Earth, and my last day at Microsoft. (*)
I've been working at Microsoft full-time since 1996 and had two years of internships before that. Microsoft is an awesome company. We do great work here: work that changes the way people interact with information in a fundamental way. And I in particular, have had the pleasure and the privilege to work on technologies that change how developers like me get their jobs done. There is no place doing better work on the design and implementation of real-world, production-strength programming languages that ship to millions of developers.
A number of those developers read this very blog, which I've been writing for nine years now. Sharing my fabulous adventures in coding with you all has been one of the most enjoyable parts of this job. I mean to continue writing it, but unfortunately, Microsoft's (entirely sensible) policy is that only full time employees get to post to MSDN blogs. I am therefore, effective right now, moving my blog to ericlippert.com. Please subscribe to the RSS feed, which is at https://ericlippert.com/feed/. (**)
I also intend to finally start "tweeting" occasionally; if you haven't already, please follow me on Twitter where I am @ericlippert.
A number of people have asked me what motivated this decision. Of course any life decision of this magnitude has a lot of reasons behind it, but the biggest one is simply: I've been here for 40% of my entire life, I've been feeling for some time that it would be good to take on a new challenge, and an opportunity has arisen that is tailor-made to my skills and interests. I'll describe that new opportunity in the first post on my new blog. As you'll see, I am very pleased that it will still involve supporting the C# development community, just in a different way.
Were I to try to make a list of current and erstwhile coworkers to thank it would be extremely long and I would undoubtedly embarrass myself by omitting someone. I've had the opportunity to learn about programming languages and developer tools from literally hundreds of developers, testers, writers, editors, program managers, managers, mentors, architects, distinguished engineers and at least a couple of technical fellows. (***) Thank you all; I hope to continue to work with you in the future.
And thanks to you all, who have been reading this blog these past nine years. Your comments, praise and always constructive criticism have helped me learn what customers need and helped everyone here shape C# into the amazing tool it is today. I hope we can continue sharing this adventure; see you at ericlippert.com.
Eric Lippert
UPDATE: Holy goodness, the outpouring here, on the new blog, on reddit, hacker news and twitter of both well-wishing and FUD is delightful for the former and distressing for the latter.
Regarding the former: thank you all for your kind thoughts; I appreciate it very much.
To dispel some of the rumours that are floating around regarding the latter:
(1) C#, Roslyn and .NET in general are doing fine; rumours of their deaths are greatly exaggerated. I certainly would not go to work on yet another C# static analyzer if I did not think there was a bright future to all of them, and to the Microsoft ecosystem in general. The C# language is in good hands; Anders and Mads are still deeply engaged in that process, and I am just one (albeit highly visible) member of a kick-ass team of dozens of people who are building Roslyn. I am leaving it in excellent hands and in excellent shape.
(2) As I said, this was a personal decision based on many factors; the main factor was a desire to pursue a new set of challenges that use my existing skill set. I certainly was not fired, and I look forward to having a close working relationship with the C# team in the future.
And finally:
(3) The first day of my first decade was the day I was born. So tomorrow being the first day of my fifth decade makes me 40, not 50.
Thank you again for your kind thoughts.
Eric
(*) That timing is not coincidental.
(**) Since I will no longer have the ability to reply to comments, they are shut off as of now. If you have comments, please leave them on the new blog. Thanks!
(***) The most hilarious job title at Microsoft as far as I'm concerned.
Comments
Anonymous
November 28, 2012
Thank you.Anonymous
November 28, 2012
I'd write a long goodbye and describe all the ways in which your work at Microsoft over the years, and in particular your blogging here, have enriched us all, but I've got to go short Microsoft's stock first. Thanks for all the incredible work. And best of luck with all your new Fabulous Adventures.Anonymous
November 28, 2012
You're turning 40, correct? Because of course your first decade of life started the day you were born, so naturally... However, granted that you're a computer scientist, you might consider the first ten years of your life to have been your zeroeth decade, meaning that you just turned 50. Regardless, happy birthday, thanks for all your amazing work and writings while at Microsoft, and I look forward to the new goodies at ericlippert.com!Anonymous
November 29, 2012
I'm assuming there's so few comments so far because everyone is speechless...Anonymous
November 29, 2012
Good luck Eric - it always makes me smile a little when I see a little (1) appear next to Fabulous Adventures in Google Reader. I'm not sure whether I smile more when I do understand the post, or when I don't! Reading them is a pleasure both for themselves and for the warm feeling that the future of C# is rosy. I guess I'll still get the warm feeling at the new place, and will just have to hope that you've left C# in safe hands (I'm sure you have).Anonymous
November 29, 2012
Will you move the posts in this blog to the new one?Anonymous
November 29, 2012
Eric - Best wishes to you, although I'm sure you won't need luck to be successful wherever you're going next. We'll miss your keen insights and pithy prose on this blog! I hope this blog can be archived somewhere for long term access -there's a lot of wisdom and insight here that should be preserved.Anonymous
November 29, 2012
C# has always been my favorite. Good luck with your next career move, I can't wait to see what becomes of itAnonymous
November 29, 2012
Wish you the best of luck.Anonymous
November 29, 2012
Good luck, I'll be following you on your new blog :)Anonymous
November 29, 2012
Best of Luck EricAnonymous
November 29, 2012
with your new home, where it is.Anonymous
November 29, 2012
Thank you, and good luck! Slavo.Anonymous
November 29, 2012
What are you gonna do now?Anonymous
November 29, 2012
Good luck Eric. I hope your new role will be satisfying. This makes me even more worried about the future of C# as a language, however. Anders, Mads, and other C# team members have moved to TypeScript, and now you're leaving before Roslyn is even complete. Is C# a sinking ship at Microsoft or is this just a big coincidence?Anonymous
November 29, 2012
Hope to see the first entry on the new location soon :) Good luck in your future endeavours!Anonymous
November 29, 2012
Thank you.Anonymous
November 29, 2012
I can attribute a great deal of my development as a programmer in the past several years to the articles from your blog, Mr. Lippert. Thank you for everything you've done, and will do.Anonymous
November 29, 2012
The comment has been removedAnonymous
November 29, 2012
Thanks for all of your hard work and fabulous adventures! I've learned more from your blog about programming in general and even some related concepts than any other blog, book or wiki that I've read. I'm sad that you're leaving Microsoft and C# development (that is, building C#, not using it), though I'm excited to read all about your new fabulous adventures. I'm already subscribed to your new blog. BTW, no need to bother tweeting - it's silly. :)Anonymous
November 29, 2012
Speechless is an apt term, I've loved reading your posts and your interactive-style exploratory adventures in C# and programming language design / impl for almost a decade now - you've always had a presence during the whole of my .net undertakings (and plenty of vbscript post diversions of yours as well). Microsoft is less for your leaving, I hope you well in your future endevours.Anonymous
November 29, 2012
You have taught me so much about programming through your blog and through StackOverflow. Even though there might be people with more rep over on SO, I still enjoyed your insightful and deliberate answers more than those of other people. Have a nice last day at work, enjoy your time off and keep on rocking (as good as a 50 year old can do) :-) Thank you so much. We really appreciate what you have been doing for usAnonymous
November 29, 2012
Oh well. That typo right there will keep my comment up-to-date for another 10 years or so... My bad. I meant to type 40 :-(Anonymous
November 29, 2012
Thank you Eric, and good luck! I look forward to reading your new blog!Anonymous
November 29, 2012
Your writings and work have helped and inspired me to be a better developer, I wish you all the best on your future endeavors!Anonymous
November 29, 2012
Thanks Eric.Anonymous
November 29, 2012
Thank you thank you thank you for C#. Words cannot express what a joy this language is to use when compared to everything else I have tried. Oh, and all the best for the future - may only good things happen to you.Anonymous
November 29, 2012
Have fun in the future, and may you have interesting challenges to solve ahead :)Anonymous
November 29, 2012
Wow - I can't believe I found your blog on the last day of its existance !Anonymous
November 29, 2012
So long, and thanks for all the fish!Anonymous
November 29, 2012
Thank you for everything, Eric, and looking forward to reading more informative and entertaining posts on your new blog.Anonymous
November 29, 2012
I've always enjoyed your writings here. You could fairly quantify not just what the language did, but why it did it that way. Valuable reading for any developer. Live Long and PropserAnonymous
November 29, 2012
Thanks !!!Anonymous
November 29, 2012
Thank you. Reading your blog has been very helpful in my career.Anonymous
November 29, 2012
Thank you for everything Eric. Your knowledge has been invaluable, as has your willingness to share it. Best of luck with your next adventure.Anonymous
November 29, 2012
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November 29, 2012
恭喜！Anonymous
November 29, 2012
Thanks,Good Luck!Anonymous
November 29, 2012
Thanks Eric !Anonymous
November 29, 2012
Hi Eric, I read your blog quite often. This must be an emotional time for you. Microsoft must be a great company to work with. Good Luck!Anonymous
November 29, 2012
All the bestAnonymous
November 29, 2012
Indeed, it's a sad news and a loss for Microsoft - the community only needs more people like you that are capable to make C# a great language. Hopefully also in your new endeavors you will take the time to write new and deep articles, like the ones in this blog.Anonymous
November 29, 2012
Eric, Thank you very much for your fantastic contribution to this wonderful language and the community as a whole. Happy Birthday - enjoy your party, as someone once said "programming language designers throw the best parties." All the best, and I look forward to seeing what you achieve in the future.Anonymous
November 29, 2012
Good luck EricAnonymous
November 29, 2012
Thank you and good luck. Your posts are always amazing!Anonymous
November 29, 2012
Thanks for all the incredible smart insights. It was a blasta and fun ride. I've never thought of it that way, but I am in my first year of my fifty decade too :) // RyanAnonymous
November 29, 2012
Thanks for your tireless work. I can honestly say this blog has changed how I think about coding.