Jeff Atwood
Jeff Atwood (born 1970) is an American software developer, author, blogger, and entrepreneur. He co-founded the question-and-answer network Stack Exchange, which contains the Stack Overflow website for computer programming questions. He is the owner and writer of the computer programming blog Coding Horror, focused on programming and human factors.
Jeff Atwood

Codinghorror · CC BY 4.0
- Name
- Jeff Atwood
- Born
- 27 December 1970
- Known for
- Coding Horror (blog), Stack Overflow, Stack Exchange
- Occupation
- Software developer, writer
- Education
- University of Virginia
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
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Documentary summary
Jeff Atwood (born 1970) is an American software developer, author, blogger, and entrepreneur. He co-founded the question-and-answer network Stack Exchange, which contains the Stack Overflow website for computer programming questions. He is the owner and writer of the computer programming blog Coding Horror, focused on programming and human factors.
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Jeff Atwood (born 1970) is a blogger, computer scientist and engineer, among other activities, of American nationality. Languages used include English.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
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wikidata · Q4703800 · wikipedia · Jeff Atwood
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Jeff Atwood • Born — 27 December 1970 • Known for — Coding Horror (blog), Stack Overflow, Stack Exchange • Occupation — Software developer, writer • Education — University of Virginia • Website — (blog)
Early life and education
Early life and education
Atwood graduated from the University of Virginia in 1992 with a bachelor's degree in environmental science with a minor in computer science.
Career
Career
• Illustration — Atwood in 2008 • Illustration — Joel Spolsky and Jeff Atwood at MIX 2009 Atwood started the programming blog Coding Horror in 2004. As a result, he met Joel Spolsky. In 2008, Spolsky and Atwood founded Stack Overflow, a programming question-and-answer website. The site was followed by Server Fault for system administrators and Super User for general computer-related questions, eventually becoming the Stack Exchange network, which includes many Q&A websites about topics decided on by the community. Atwood and Spolsky published a weekly podcast covering the progress, Stack Exchange Podcast, and a wide range of software development issues. Jeff Atwood was also a keynote presenter at the 2008 Canadian University Software Engineering Conference. In February 2012, Atwood left Stack Exchange to spend more time with his family. On February 5, 2013, Atwood announced a new company, Civilized Discourse Construction Kit, Inc. The company develops open source server and client software for threaded discussions called Discourse. Atwood and others developed it out of frustration with then-current bulletin board software, which hadn't evolved since 1990. On February 1, 2023, he stepped down as CEO and assumed the role of Executive Chairman. Atwood, together with WASD Keyboards, launched a mechanical keyboard, CODE, in 2013. In 2021, Stack Overflow was sold to Prosus for $1.8 billion.
Philanthropy
Philanthropy
In January 2025, Atwood announced one million dollar gifts to eight non-profit organizations, including The Trevor Project, an organization dedicated to suicide prevention and crisis intervention for LGBTQ+ youth. In addition, Children's Hunger Fund, First Generation Investors, Global Refuge, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, PEN America, Planned Parenthood, and Team Rubicon received donations from Atwood and his family. Atwood and his family have contributed to Alameda Post and the Alameda Food Bank. Atwood donated $1.5 million to 404 Media, a nonprofit news site. Atwood donated $100,000 to Precious Plastic, a nonprofit fighting plastic pollution. In 2025, Atwood started the Rural Guaranteed Minimum Income Initiative (RGMII), studying the effects of cash payments to citizens in 3 rural counties: Mercer County, West Virginia, Beaufort County, North Carolina, and Warren County, Mississippi.
Personal life
Personal life
Atwood and his partner, Betsy Burton, have three children.
Books
• The ASP.NET 2.0 Anthology: 101 Essential Tips, Tricks & Hacks, by Scott Allen, Jeff Atwood, Wyatt Barnett, Jon Galloway and Phil Haack. • Effective Programming: More Than Writing Code.

Joel Spolsky and Jeff Atwood present at MIX09
D.Begley · Joel Spolsky and Jeff Atwood present at MIX09

Scott Guthrie laughs with Jeff Atwood and Jeff Sandquist during the #AskTheGu Session
D.Begley · Scott Guthrie laughs with Jeff Atwood and Jeff Sandquist during the #AskTheGu Session
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Jeff Atwood”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q4703800: Jeff Atwood
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Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Atwood, Jeff. I Was a Teenage Hacker. Coding Horror. August 8, 2012.
- 2.Atwood, Jeff. The Ten Commandments of Egoless Programming. Coding Horror. May 9, 2006.
- 3.TWiT Tech Podcast Network. Club TWiT: Off By One With Jeff Atwood #2 - From Stack Overflow to Stay Gold, America. YouTube. 2026-05-22.
- 4.Finley, Klint. Stack Overflow Man Remakes Net One Answer at a Time. Wired. July 5, 2012.
- 5.Finley, Klint. Stack Overflow Man Remakes Net One Answer at a Time. Wired. 1059-1028.
- 6.Kumparak, Greg. StackOverflow Co-Founder Jeff Atwood Builds A $150 Mechanical Keyboard. TechCrunch. 2013-08-28.
- 7.Kelly, Jane. Tech Multimillionaire, UVA Grad, Pledges To Give Away Half His Wealth.
- 8.Rosoff, Matt. Online communities don't have to be hate-filled cesspools — and this guy proved it. Business Insider.
- 9.Somers, James. How Will A.I. Learn Next?. The New Yorker. 2023-10-05. 0028-792X.
- 10.State of Programming with Jeff Atwood. Software Engineering Daily. March 15, 2016.
- 11.Popper, Ben. Podcast 400: An oral history of Stack Overflow - told by its founding team. The Stack Overflow Podcast - The Stack Overflow Blog. 14 December 2021.
- 12.CUSEC. Is Writing More Important Than Programming?. Archive of Previous Presentations. 2008.
- 13.AOL. Jeff Atwood bids adieu to Stack Exchange for the best reason ever. techcrunch.com. February 7, 2012.
- 14.Ha, Anthony. Stack Exchange Co-Founder Jeff Atwood Launches Forums Startup Discourse, With Funding From First Round, Greylock, And SV Angel. TechCrunch. AOL. February 5, 2013.
- 15.Sam Saffron and Sarah Hawk named Discourse Co-CEOs. Discourse. 2023-01-31.
- 16.Noe, Rain. Software Programmer Schools Industrial Designers. This, Folks, is How You Design a Keyboard.
- 17.Dummett, Ben (June 2, 2021). "Stack Overflow Sold to Tech Giant Prosus for $1.8 Billion. Deal is Prosus' biggest investment in online learning and comes weeks after it sold a chunk from its massive Tencent holding". Wall Street Journal.
- 18.Stiffman, Eden. A New Giving Pledge? Tech Mogul Promises Accelerated Donations. Inspired by MacKenzie Scott and critical of the Buffett-Gates pact, the co-founder of Stack Overflow and Discourse is giving away half his wealth in five years. The Chronicle of Philanthropy. January 16, 2025.
- 19.Atwood, Jeff (January 7 2025). Stay Gold, America.
- 20.Stack Overflow Co-Founder Jeff Atwood Donates $1 Million to The Trevor Project. The Trevor Project. 2025-01-07.
- 21.Precious Plastic V5. preciousplastic.com.
- 22.Why Pledge to Share the American Dream. RGMII.
- 23.Block, Sandra. Time100 Philanthropy 2025: Jeff Atwood: Giving with urgency. Time. May 20, 2025.
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