Michael Abrash

Michael Abrash is a software executive, programmer and technical writer specializing in code optimization and 80x86 assembly language, a reputation cemented by his 1990 book Zen of Assembly Language Volume 1: Knowledge and a monthly column in Dr. Dobb's Journal in the early 1990s. A later book, Zen of Graphics Programming, applied these ideas to 2D and 3D graphics prior to the advent of hardware accelerators for the PC. Though not strictly a game programmer, Abrash has worked on the underlying technology for games, such as Quake, for much of his career. Since 2014, he has been the chief scientist of Oculus VR, a subsidiary of Facebook, Inc..He frequently begins a technical discussion with an anecdote that draws parallels between a real-life experience he has had and the article's subject matter. His prose encourages readers to think outside the box and to approach solving technical problems in an innovative way.