PWL#6: Brandon Bloom on Programming with Algebraic Effects and Handlers

we're excited to have Brandon Bloom (https://twitter.com/BrandonBloom) presenting the paper Programming with Algebraic Effects and Handlers (https://github.com/papers-we-love/papers-we-love/blob/master/plt/programming-with-algebraic-effects-and-handlers.pdf?raw=true) by Andrej Bauer and Matija Pretnar.

Intro

Some great papers embody insights, others package up those insights into digestible bites. "Programing with Algebraic Effects and Handlers" is the later sort of great paper. After two decades of fundamental research in to the nature of computation, a lot of mysterious ideas in computer science such as continuations and exception handling finally made sense to a number of mathematically inclined geniuses. Bauer and Pretnar's Eff programming language cuts right through the heart of the theory in a way that makes sense to anybody who has ever written a functional program. This paper uses the Eff language to explore a number of simple computational effects that were traditionally viewed as quite varied and complex.

Brandon's Bio

Brandon Bloom walks a fine line between laser focused pragmatism and broad academic interests. Most recently in his varied career, Brandon worked on Code.org's Hour Of Code campaign. In the past, he's founded and sold a startup, as well as worked on Microsoft Xbox and Google Translate. Now, he's indulging his inner scientist and exploring technology for his next venture. Find him on the web at < http://www.brandonbloom.name/ >.