Speaking

.NET Users of Fort Wayne – March 19

To celebrate the release of my new book, The Book of F#, I’ll be back in Fort Wayne, IN to talk to NUFW on March 19. Instead of the usual technical talk, this will be an open-ended discussion of my experiences writing a technical book but I’m sure that F# will find its way into the conversation at least a few times.

If you’re in the Fort Wayne area and would like to join us, we’ll be meeting at the Cole Foundation Conference and Training Center (3213 Stellhorn Rd) at 6:00 PM. I’ll be giving out a few copies of the book as door prizes so you won’t want to miss this!

.NET Users of Fort Wayne – August 21

On August 21st I’ll once again venture out of my cave for a trip to Fort Wayne, Indiana where I’ll spread more F# love with my friends at NUFW.

If you’re in the Fort Wayne area and want to learn about how F# and functional programming principles can improve your software, please join us. The doors open at 6:00 for networking and the main event begins at 6:30. Be sure to check NUFW ‘s events page for the latest logistics information.

Bloomington .NET Society – June 27

I know I’ve been quiet for a few months but don’t worry, I haven’t disappeared. Instead I’ve been hard at work on an upcoming F# book! The book has consumed most of my time but not being one to pass up a chance to talk about my obsession I’m making the trip down to Bloomington, IN at the end of the month to talk to the Bloomington .NET Society.

If you’re in the Bloomington area on June 27th and interested in learning about F#, please join us. You can find the full meeting details on the group’s site: http://dotnet.indiana.edu/news/jun-2013-meeting.

I hope to see you there!

IndySA – March 21, 2013

The March IndySA meeting is this Thursday.  I’m excited for the opportunity to spread around a bit more F# love as this month’s speaker.  If you’re looking for a fun way to fill the evening please join us at the SEP office in Carmel at 5:30 PM.  All of the logistics details are available on the meetup site.

I hope to see you there!

About the Talk

F# Needs Love Too

Originally developed by Microsoft Research, Cambridge, F# is an open-source, functional-first language in the ML family. Despite its lofty position as a first-class Visual Studio language for the past two releases and its cross-platform availability it hasn’t seen widespread adoption in the business world. In this talk we’ll take an introductory look at F#, exploring how its constructs and terse syntax can allow you to write more stable, maintainable code while keeping you focused on the problem rather than the plumbing.

 

GR DevDay
GR DevDay Speaker Badge

GR DevDay Speaker Badge

Last weekend I made the trek up to Grand Rapids, Michigan for the GR DevDay conference.  This was the second time I’d attended this conference but this time was special – it was my first time speaking at a conference!  I was honored to have my talk “F# Needs Love Too” selected and to have been included in line-up of speakers that included some familiar names like Eric Boyd, Jay Harris, Michael Eaton, David Giard, and Jennifer Marsman.

My talk was in the first time slot immediately following the keynote.  Considering I was up against some HTML5 and mobile development talks I was happy to see such interest in F#.  I thought the talk went well and spurred some good conversation.  Thanks to everyone that attended.  Hopefully you were inspired to take a closer look at the language and see how it can change the way you think about writing software.

Having the first time slot gave me the rest of the day to attend other sessions.  The sessions I selected were:

  1. Collaborate: Windows Phone and Windows 8 – Michael Perry
  2. Make Node.js Package. Become Famous. – Jay Harris
  3. Hot Data and Cool Cash – Joe Kunk
  4. Creating apps with high code reuse between Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 – Jennifer Marsman

All of the talks were interesting in their own right.  Naturally I was most interested in the two Windows Phone 8/Windows 8 talks and they didn’t disappoint.  The other two sessions weren’t as immediately relevant to me but gave me some stuff to think about.

I’d like to thank the organizers for putting on yet another great conference.  I thought the event was every bit as good as the last one and was happy to be a part of it.

GR DevDay – March 2, 2013

If you’re looking for a great developer conference in the Grand Rapids, MI area I highly recommend checking out GR DevDay. This year the conference is being held on March 2 at Calvin College. The organizers have lined up a  great selection sessions covering a wide range of topics and technologies. Whether you’re developing for the cloud, desktop, or mobile spaces you’ll be sure to find something of interest.

I’m honored to be included among this year’s speakers. If you’re interested in an introduction to F# be sure to check out my session:

F# Needs Love Too!

Originally developed by Microsoft Research, Cambridge, F# is an open-source, functional-first language in the ML family. Despite its lofty position as a first-class Visual Studio language for the past two releases and its cross-platform availability it hasn’t seen widespread adoption in the business world. In this session we’ll take an introductory look at F#, exploring how its constructs and terse syntax can allow you to write more stable, maintainable code while keeping you focused on the problem rather than the plumbing.

I hope to see you there even if you don’t attend my session.
…but please do
…you know you want to!

Faking It Slides Available

Thanks to everyone that attended one of my Microsoft Fakes talks this week. I hope the sessions were beneficial. I just uploaded the slides to SlideShare for you to review at your leisure.

If you attended one of my sessions could do me a quick favor by taking a moment to rate the talk on SpeakerRate?

NUFW (6/12/2012)
IndyNDA (6/14/2012)

Thanks!