Episode 224 | Mads Torgersen - Speaking My Language

Guest: Mads Torgersen @madstorgersen Mads Torgersen talks with Dave Rael about geeking out on natural and programming languages, life at Microsoft, beneficial relationships, and C# Mads is the language lead for C#, and a program manager on the .NET team at Microsoft. He runs the C# language design process and maintains the language specification. Chapters: 1:25 - Dave introduces the show and Mads Torgersen3:18 - Mads's journey with working for Microsoft6:48 - Mads's history with Java8:56 - Mads's path to leading the C# language10:47 - Life for Mads as the language lead for C#14:59 - The newest version of the language (at the time of recording and publishing): C# 719:08 - Functional features in C#21:35 - Philosophy of language design and balancing options vs cohesion and continuity25:12 - Dynamic language features in C#28:29 - Influences of cross-platform .NET, mobile, and gaming development on the C# language34:17 - How Mads got started in software37:15 - Mads and his interest in natural languages39:55 - Mads's book recommendations42:46 - The things that have Mads most excited43:56 - Mads and travel in the job44:56 - Mads's top 3 tips for delivering more value47:20 - Keeping up with Mads Resources: Jon Skeet and Developer On Fire Anders Hejlsberg Guy Steele Mads on the .NET Blog - What’s New in C# 7.0 Unity Game Platform Forth Hewlett-Packard Reverse Polish Notation Calculator David Heinemeier Hansson on Developer On Fire Mark Seemann on Developer On Fire Mads Kristensen on Developer On Fire Bjarne Stroustrup Kristen Nygaard Ole-Johan Dahl Lars Bak Mads's book recommendation: American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America - Colin Woodard Mads's top 3 tips for delivering more value: Don't lose yourself when trying to work for the greater good You can get a valuable relationship with almost anyone