Norwegian computer scientist who, with Ole-Johan Dahl, developed the Simula computer programming language, one of the first object-oriented computer languages. Simula became the basis for many follow-on languages, including Beta. Object-oriented computer languages offer many benefits, providing both programmers and users with the ability to assemble and use complex programs composed of "plug and play" modules, or objects. Object-oriented programming became increasingly popular in the 1980s and 1990s.