Open Tech Calendar

Semantics Matter

Jon Skeet is a Java developer for Google in London, but he plays with C# (somewhat obsessively) in his free time.

He loves writing and talking about C#, and the third edition of "C# in Depth" was published earlier this year. Writing less formally, Jon spends a lot of time on Stack Overflow... where "a lot" is an understatement. Give him a puzzle about how C# behaves which gets him reaching for the language specification, and Jon is a happy bunny.

Jon lives in Reading with his wife and three children.

Semantics matter

I've always been pedantic around things like terminology, but in the last few years I've become almost obsessed with the meaning of data - partly because I've seen how much trouble we get ourselves into when we use it inappropriately.

In this session I'll explore some examples (mostly from Stack Overflow) of where a failure to consider the meaning of data carefully enough has caused problems, see what a rich type system can do for you, and imagine what might happen if we actually went overboard on the idea. What's the sweet spot, and how can it be applied right now?

Wed 7th Aug 2013 7:00pm (Europe/London)

Wed 7th Aug 2013 9:00pm (Europe/London)

changed

Europe/London

No

Yes