Sam Aaron - Coding as Communication

The term "programming language" is often used to describe the medium we use represent and communicate formal descriptions of process. However, to what extent can we also consider programming languages as interfaces in their own right? Are they sufficiently expressive, interactive and dynamic to directly communicate through? How might that challenge our perception of programming language and tools in general. For example, what happens when we consider the act of programming as a conversation? What might a programming environment which has sufficient liveness, rapid feedback and tolerance of failure look like? What benefits would such a style of programming offer business? Could live coding be beneficial for rapid prototyping, exploring big data sets, and even communicating formal business ideas?

Sam Aaron (http://sam.aaron.name/) is a researcher, software architect and computational thinker with a deep fascination surrounding the notion of communicative programming. He sees programming as one of the many communication channels for descriptions of formalised process of any kind, be it a business process, a compiler strategy or even a musical composition.

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As usual, there will be drinks and nibbles.

Doors open at 6pm and the talk starts promptly at 6:30pm