July, 2025 Computer Programming Language Panel (Special Event)

July, 2025 Computer Programming Language Panel (Special Event)

This meeting is a joint collaboration between the Northwest C++ Users Group (NWCPP) and Seattle Rust User Group (SRUG) to discuss a breadth of programming languages with a panel of experts. In this talk we will compare and contrast: D, C++, Rust, Swift, Cpp2, C# and Mojo.

Agenda
This meeting will feature a panel of people speaking about key established systems programming languages and some newer memory-safe languages of interest in this space. Each panelist will give a short presentation of the language they’re covering followed by a "discussion session".

The panelists are as follows (more about each panelist below):

• Brad Gibson
• Walter Bright
• Donna Smith
• Peter Williamson
• Theodore Neward
• Lloyd Moore

This meeting will be live-streamed via Microsoft Teams.
Click here to join the meeting
Meeting ID: 267 234 842 849 0
Passcode: 6A3KN3Z4
Call in (audio only) +1 323-849-4874
Phone Conference ID: 167 721 56#

More about the panelists

• Brad Gibson: My name is Brad Gibson, U007D (pronounced “Curly”) in technical forums. I started programming in the early 1980’s. My first computer was a Commodore 64. Its limited built-in BASIC language quickly encouraged me to learn assembly language on the MOS 6510 (6502) at a blistering 1MHz. My next computer was the Amiga—running a 16/32 MC68000 at 7.16MHz, I felt like there was nothing it couldn’t do. Soon thereafter, in the early 90’s, I started business doing 3D animation, client/server database systems and more. Almost all my work was in C and shortly thereafter, in C++. Fast-forward a little over 20 years to late 2014 when I discovered a new, little-known systems programming language called Rust. It took me some time to become proficient in it, but for high-performance, complex, concurrent and/or low-level work, it introduced new paradigms (e.g. typestate, Result and Option monads, mutability XOR sharing, newtypes and more). To me, these concepts were both mind-blowing and game-changing. I’ve not yet come across anything more effective at building efficient, correct code in this mix of domains. I’m currently the Chief Technology Officer and Chief Information Security Officer at a state-regulated Trust Bank startup.
• Walter Bright: Walter is the creator and first implementer of the D programming language and has implemented compilers for several other languages. He’s an expert in all areas of compiler technology, including front ends, optimizers, code generation, interpreter engines, and runtime libraries. Walter regularly writes articles about compilers and programming, is known for engaging and informative presentations, and provides training in compiler development techniques. Many are surprised to discover that Walter is also the creator of the wargame Empire, which is still popular today over 40 years after its debut.
• Donna Smith: Donna has been a programmer, software engineer for approx. 25 years. She has BS degrees in both CS and EE from Seattle University. She has worked as a software engineer for notable corporations such as Intel and Physio-ControlMedtronic. She has run her own Technology Services online business since 2019 - YourTechandMore utilizing engineering skills and design but not really as a programmer. But she indulges her computer programming and embedded systems love in Hobby Robotics and is an active member and part of the planning committee for the Seattle Robotics Society.
• Peter Williamson: Like the man in black said: “No one of consequence”. Peter Williamson has been programming professionally for 30 years at companies like Boeing, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google. He’s been using C++ for most of that time, and attending NWCPP off and on since the 90’s. He has been known to talk about himself in third person.
• Theodore Neward: Ted currently labors on his own behalf, leveraging his speaking, writing, and coding experience to bring a technology-focused and -sharpened mindset to the mortgage industry. During his more code-focused years, he specialized in high-scale enterprise systems, working with clients ranging in size from Fortune 500 corporations to small 10-person shops. He is an authority in Java and .NET technologies, particularly in the areas of Java/.NET integration (both in-process and via integration tools like Web services), programming languages of all forms, back-end enterprise software systems, and virtual machine/execution engine plumbing. He is the author or co-author of several books, including Professional F# 2.0, Effective Enterprise Java, C# In a Nutshell, SSCLI Essentials, Server-Based Java Programming, and a contributor to several technology journals. All told, he has written well over a hundred articles in both print and online form. Ted has also been an “insider” of one form or another with a variety of the technology providers of the world: an IBM Champion of Cloud, a Microsoft F# MVP (having also been an Architect and C# MVP in prior years), an F# Insider, C# Insider, VB Insider, INETA speaker, DevelopMentor instructor, PluralSight course author, and a member of various Java JSRs. He lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife, two sons, three cats, twelve laptops, seven tablets, nine phones and a rather large utility bill.
• Lloyd Moore: Lloyd is the founder and owner of CyberData Corporation, which provides consulting services in the aerospace, robotics, machine vision and industrial automation fields. Lloyd has worked in software industry for 40 years. His formal training is in biological-based artificial intelligence, electronics, and psychology. Lloyd is also currently the president of the Northwest C++ User’s Group and an organizer of the Seattle Robotics Society Robothon event.

Call for Speakers
Please contact me on Discord (`@u007d`) if you have a topic or are working on any Rust-related project that you would like to present at a future meeting.
We welcome questions or feedback. Please message us on the SRUG Discord (Discord Server invite).

Please RSVP, and we hope to see you!

Call for Volunteers
* Commitment: < 1hr per month

If you would like to help, please reach out to me on our Discord server.

* Previously recorded meetings can now be found here on YouTube!