Functional Programming in Practice

Cut to the chase with functional programming, creating a domain-specific language for the win!

Statically typed functional programming languages encourage a very different way of thinking about types. The type system is your friend, not an annoyance, and can be used in many ways that might not be familiar to OO programmers. Types can be used to represent the domain in a fine-grained, self-documenting way. And in many cases, types can even be used to encode business rules so that you literally cannot create incorrect code. You can then use the static type checking almost as an instant unit test — making sure that your code is correct at compile time.

In this session we'll start with a brief review of the guiding principles of functional programming languages, but the bulk of the talk will examine the use of a real functional language (F#) in a real-world, event-based, real-time, stream-oriented data processing system. We'll look at some of the ways you can use types to define a domain in F# that interoperates with C#. No jargon, no math, and no prior F# or C# experience necessary.

Our presenter, Riccardo Terrell, is a well-seasoned software engineer and Microsoft MVP who is passionate about functional programming. He is active in the .NET community and started the DC F# user’s group. He is currently working on NPL in .NET, and is authoring a book on developing highly-scalable systems applying the functional paradigm in F# & C#. Riccardo believes in polyglot programming as a mechanism for finding the right tool for the job.

We will meet at TEKsystems in Linthicum. There is plenty of free parking in front of the building. Doors will open at 6:30 PM for pizza and conversation, and the presentation will start at 7:00 PM. If you get there after 7:00 and find yourself locked out, you will find our phone number posted on the front door. Call the number and someone will come to let you in. Don't be embarrassed - happens all the time.

Many thanks to our sponsors, TEKsystems (https://www.teksystems.com/) for hosting this meeting and providing pizza, and Grady Kearney, Agent for New York Life (https://www.facebook.com/GradyKearneyNYL/), for providing refreshments!