Episode 323 | Don Syme - Languages and Stories

Guest:

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Don Syme about Microsoft Research, languages, F#, exposure to software development for children, and deconstruction of ideas

Don Syme is a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Mobile Tools and Microsoft Research, Cambridge. He works with researchers, Microsoft and open source communities to make better programming technologies, and, through that, make people more productive and happier. His main responsibility is the design and implementation of the F# programming language and he contributes to its tooling and community. He has also worked on the design of virtual machines and the C# language, being co-responsible for C# and .NET generics, and the design of language-integrated asynchronous programming in F# and, via F#, has influenced the design of asynchronous programming in C#.

Chapters: 2:04 - Dave introduces the show and Don Syme8:11 - Don's early experience with working with a startup12:11 - Don's graduate studies at Cambridge14:33 - Don on Microsoft's emergence as an open source organization23:21 - The history of F# and the reasons it was created27:47 - The conception of the need for a functional-first programming language for .NET33:53 - The reasons F# became a new language rather than a use of an existing one37:40 - The difficulties of the F# story42:00 - Don's book recommendation42:16 - Don's experiences with his father's establishment of a software business48:24 - Children and software/technology51:04 - Don's top 3 tips for delivering more value59:33 - Keeping up with Don

Resources: F# Software Foundation Microsoft Research Microsoft Research Lab – Cambridge Andy Gordon Roger Needham Fable WebSharper Java Virtual Machine Martin Odersky Philip Wadler Pizza (programming language) The MLj Compiler Nick Benton Andrew Kennedy OCaml James Plamondon Peter Plamondon S. Somasegar Craig Mundie VisiCalc Texas Instruments - Programmable Calculators F#unctional Londoners Meetup Group Phillip Trelford F# eXchange 2018 Open F#

Don's book recommendation: The Java® Virtual Machine Specification - Tim Lindholm, Frank Yellin, Gilad Bracha, Alex Buckley

Don's top 3 tips for delivering more value: Don't personalize things Identify tension between two ideas and view it as an opportunity to find a new path via resolution of the tension and combination of ideas Deconstruct things