Monthly Rust Meetup
Details
Join us for the new and improved monthly Cambridge Rust meetup, hosted at Quantinuum's office on Hill's Rd.
Speaker: John Lees
I’m a research group leader at EMBL-EBI: https://www.ebi.ac.uk/research/lees
There, I run the Pathogen Informatics and Modelling Group: https://www.bacpop.org
I work on bioinformatics and software, statistical genetics, genomic epidemiology, GPU programming, and mathematical modelling – mostly on bacterial pathogens but sometimes on other microbes too.
We want to understand how pathogens (particularly bacteria) evolve, becoming pathogenic and more transmissible.
We also aim to increase the performance and accessibility of evolutionary methods, including both bioinformatics and modelling. We develop methods that can be easily run in a web-browser, on a typical laptop, and on high-performance GPUs.
For more detail on my work and interests, see:
Research: https://www.bacpop.org/research
Software: https://www.bacpop.org/software
Topic: From C++ to Rust - Lessons from an Academic Programmer
I’ve used C++ and Python extensively in my research, largely focused on writing tools for analysing large sequencing datasets and running mathematical models of epidemics.
My Rust journey began with Advent of Code:
https://www.johnlees.me/posts/learning-rust-as-a-c-python-programmer-advent-of-code-2021
It continued as I wrote my first fully-fledged research software tool in Rust:
https://www.johnlees.me/posts/rust-two
In this talk I will cover some of the pros and cons I found when switching from C++ to rust, particularly from the perspective of an academic programmer. I will also talk about why I now teach rust to all new students, and the materials I have created to do this.
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Agenda
18:45 - Doors Open
19:15 - Talk
19:45 - Networking and Pizza
20:15 - Pub
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Getting there
The event is hosted at Quantinuum's office in Terrington House, we will let people in periodically but if you don't see anyone please buzz at the front door of the building.
We are a 10-15 minute walk from Cambridge central station and there is bike parking in the basement of the building.
If driving to the event there is free parking after 5pm on St Paul's Rd, Harvey Rd, and Glisson Rd, all next to the venue.
Monthly Rust Meetup