Barbara Liskov

The Institute Professor whose substitution principle and abstract data types shaped how software is structured.

Specifications & Metrics

era

born 1939

Core Principles & Analysis

• The Liskov substitution principle (1987) defines when a subclass may stand in for its parent.
• She led the CLU language, popularizing abstract data types and iterators.
• She won the Turing Award in 2008, the second woman to receive it.