# Jeff Atwood

> Jeff Atwood is an American software developer, writer and entrepreneur based in Alameda, California. He created Coding Horror, co-founded Stack Overflow with Joel Spolsky and Discourse with Robin Ward and Sam Saffron, and became Discourse’s executive chairman in 2023. His recent work includes the Rural Guaranteed Minimum Income Initiative and Off By One, a monthly TWiT show with Leo Laporte.

- **Role:** Co-founder and Executive Chairman at Discourse; co-founder of the Rural Guaranteed Minimum Income Initiative
- **Organizations:** Discourse, Stack Overflow, Stack Exchange, Coding Horror, Rural Guaranteed Minimum Income Initiative, TWiT
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor’s degree in environmental science; minor in computer science, University of Virginia
- **Known for:** Co-founded Stack Overflow and the Stack Exchange network., Co-founded the open-source discussion platform Discourse., Created the programming and human-factors blog Coding Horror.

## Career timeline

- **1980s** — Learned programming with Microsoft BASIC; his first microcomputer was a TI-99/4A.
- **1992** — Graduated from the University of Virginia.
- **2004** — Started Coding Horror.
- **2008** — Co-founded Stack Overflow with Joel Spolsky.
- **2012** — Announced departure from Stack Exchange’s daily operations, effective March 1, to spend more time with his children.
- **2013** — Launched Discourse with Robin Ward and Sam Saffron and introduced the CODE keyboard with WASD Keyboards.
- **2021** — Stack Overflow was acquired by Prosus in a $1.8 billion transaction.
- **2023** — Moved from Discourse CEO to executive chairman; Sarah Hawk and Sam Saffron assumed CEO responsibilities.
- **2025** — Announced a five-year family giving commitment and eight initial $1 million donations.
- **2026** — Publicly announced RGMII on February 3, announced a monthly TWiT show in June and presented with Ben Dumke-von der Ehe in Berlin in July.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Stack Overflow and the Stack Exchange network.
- Co-founded the open-source discussion platform Discourse.
- Created the programming and human-factors blog Coding Horror.
- Collaborated with WASD Keyboards on the CODE keyboard.
- Named to TIME100 Philanthropy in 2025.
- Reported approximately $21 million in immediate donations and a separate $50 million longer-term pledge in February 2026.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — Published a reader’s letter about help from Stack Overflow contributors and urged people to build communities together.
- **2026-08** — Published You Can’t "Vibe Code" Love, sharing his July Berlin talk and discussing AI and the knowledge commons.
- **2026-06** — Announced Off By One with Jeff Atwood, a monthly TWiT conversation hosted by Leo Laporte.
- **2026-02** — Announced RGMII, reporting roughly $21 million in immediate giving plus a separate $50 million commitment, with studies funded in Mercer County, WV, Beaufort County, NC, and Warren County, MS.

## Links

- Website: https://blog.codinghorror.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-atwood-1bab6b354
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/codinghorror
- GitHub: https://github.com/coding-horror

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/jeff-atwood
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-13