Software Developer/Architect Amanda Laucher

Amanda Laucher is a Principal Consultant for The Sophic Group. She focuses on up and coming technologies and their implementation into current business solutions. As an INETA Speaker, she enjoys speaking about technology all over the world. She is currently working on "F# in Action" which will be released in 2009.

Check out her blog at www.pandamonial.com

Presentation: "Domain Specific Languages and Language Oriented Programming"

Time: Monday 13:00 - 13:45

Location: To be announced

Abstract: Domain specific languages are miniature languages aimed at allowing code to resemble the actual problem domain. We'll go through some patterns and techniques for creating them. With examples of both internal and external, you'll see how DSLs can save on development time, and maintenance. We'll also discuss some of the things to watch out for. Examples in C#, F#, and Olso Mg.

Workshop: "Introduction to Functional Programming"

Time: Wednesday 13:00 - 16:00

Location: To be announced

Abstract:

With the release of Visual Studio 2010, Microsoft will introduce a new programming language, Visual F#, to the mainstream .NET development community for the first time in close to a decade. Visual F# represents a new style of programming, a functional approach to programming, historically characterized by "academic" languages like Haskell and ML. In this tutorial, we'll examine the 'why and how' of F#, including the benefits and drawbacks of a functional programming style, and how it can be combined with object-oriented programming to take best advantage of both approaches. Along the way, we will write some F# code, giving the attendee a strong basis of F# syntax that they can use to learn more about F# back home.

By the end of the tutorial, in fact, attendees who bring their own laptops (with F# CTP installed) and attack the exercises provided will have enough skill at F# to begin writing F# code that can be called from C# in a variety of different contexts.