Sometimes, the elegant implementation is a function. Not a method. Not a class. Not a framework. Just a function.
— John Carmack
It’s OK to figure out murder mysteries, but you shouldn’t need to figure out code. You should be able to read it.
— Steve McConnell
Simplicity, carried to the extreme, becomes elegance.
— Jon Franklin
Controlling complexity is the essence of computer programming.
— Brian Kernighan
It seems that perfection is attained not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to remove.
— Antoine de Saint-Exupery
This workshop aims to teach programming, through the lens of Perl 5 and Perl 6. The focus is on simplicity, readability, and elegance. There are known ways to get there, and this workshop is about them.
In Perl. Yes, really.
What's "masakism"? It's the belief that simplicity may not be easy or painless, but it's worth it.
Topics will cover functional programming, object orientation, grammars, operators, DSLs, various problem domains, syntax, and semantics. The common theme, however, is the principles of coding.
You should have some prior experience with Perl 5 and/or Perl 6. No need to be an expert.
You need an IRC client. If you're unfamiliar with IRC, you can find lots of different IRC clients here.
You should have Perl (5 or 6) installed on your computer, so that you can run the code you write. If you don't already, I recommend you get that set up well before the workshop. People on #perl6 can help you if you have questions.
You participate by doing exercises, and posting them either publicly on the channel or via privmsg to masak. The exercises are relatively easy — the main focus is on trying out various principles. You can pick and choose which ones to do.
There's a significant risk we'll enjoy it, as we get into solving problems and discussing principles together.
On the channel #masakism on Freenode.
First of May, a Wednesday.
2013-05-01T16:00Z -- 2013-05-01T20:00Z.
- For people in the Americas, that's in the late morning.
- For people in Europe, that's in the late afternoon or early evening.
- For people in Asia, that's in the late evening to midnight.
- Or see here for all the time zones.
Interested? Just log into #masakism on Freenode before the event, and proclaim that you'll show up for the workshop.