GOTO Amsterdam is a vendor independent international software development conference with more that 50 top speaker and 500 attendees. The conference covers topics such as Java, Open Source, Agile, Architecture, Design, Web, Cloud, New Languages and Processes.
Sam Aaron, TweetPostdoc Researcher at The University of Cambridge
Biography: Sam Aaron
Sam is interested in domain specific languages, the aesthetics of programming languages and the more general concept of language oriented programming.
He is inspired by people who look further afield than the traditional literature to bring powerful new ideas and concepts back to the field of computing.
As such, he's currently performing postdoctoral research at the University of Cambridge exploring the combination of low-level efficient real-time systems with high-level expressive languages and interfaces towards the creation of new systems for the improvisation of music.
Twitter: @samaaron
Presentation: TweetSonic Pi - Teaching Kids with Music Programming
In the UK the school education system is experiencing radical reform. This is particularly the case with computing. There's momentum to separate ICT from Computer Science and to place specific emphasis on the teaching of Computational Thinking. In broad terms, we shouldn't just be teaching our children office skills such as formatting Word documents – we should be teaching them how to code and create their own software.
This talk introduces Sonic Pi, a music language and environment running on the Raspberry Pi specifically focussed on introducing core Computer Science concepts for KS3 students. Sonic Pi emphasises the importance of creativity in pedagogic contexts enabling learners to exhibit self-agency through the application of the taught ideas in musical works they create and own.
Sonic Pi is currently being trialled by schools. We will discuss some early observations and initial success stories of using music and composition as a means for both introducing technical concepts and improving engagement and interest.
Workshop: Core Clojure - A Practical Introduction Tweet
Clojure is a powerful new JVM-based programming language with a unique take on concurrency, power, interactivity and practicality which is seeing rapid adoption in industry. This introductory workshop will give you a thorough practical grounding with this unique language whilst also touching on some of its next-gen philosophical ideas.
Through a series of fast-paced highly interactive introductory examples we will get a feel for the language, be able to write our first Clojure programs as well as calling and interacting with any of the available Java libraries. Expect to come away with a new perspective on programming and a powerful new tool for your developer toolkit.
Core topics this workshop will cover:
- Function first programming
- The importance of immutability
- Mastering state
- Thinking concurrently
- Making use of Java libraries
- The power of interactive development
Workshop Prerequisites
A working Clojure REPL. This can be achieved by installing:
- JDK 1.6+
- leiningen v2+
A Clojure-aware editor. For example, one of:
Technical requirements
You will need your own laptop.