Lambda Academy - Ladies Night - An Ounce of Elixir

Hello all,

We've been helping to organise this workshop for new programmers for a few years now. Though this isn't for most of us on this group, please suggest it to those who you think would be interested! There are more details below :)

Trainer - Rob Martin

Object-Oriented Programming has held sway for nearly three decades, but there is a way of programming that is more powerful, more flexible, more scalable, less complex, and easier to learn. It's called functional programming, and right now, large numbers of highly skilled Object Oriented programmers are learning functional programming instead. Large corporations and banks use functional programming extensively, and startups from Twitter to WhatsApp have banked on it too.

These functional programming languages aren't being taught to new developers, unless you happen to be a computer science student at MIT, UC-Berkeley, or Cambridge. Some people think it shouldn't be done - that new developers should take the standard Ruby on Rails path. But a growing number of technologists and leaders are getting behind the idea that new developers should not only learn functional programming, but that they should learn it first.

An Ounce of Elixir is a gentle introduction to functional programming using a language called Elixir. It's easy to read and easy to write. It runs way faster than Ruby or Python or Javascript. It scales from tens of users to tens of millions of users. It's the right language in a lot of cases, and it may be the right language for you to learn next.

Who it is for?

The workshop is intended for new programmers (those who have not yet worked as a professional developer) but more experienced developers are welcome to join with the understanding that the mob's success is dependent on bringing everyone to the same level.

About Rob:

Rob Martin is a functional programmer and teacher, architect, co-creator of puppylang, and technical leader in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. He's focused heavily on gender diversity in tech and teaches a workshop called "An Ounce of Elixir" designed for women and non-binary people who have not yet worked as a software developer. He's currently working on a similar workshop for increasing representation of Deaf developers, which he'll teach in American Sign Language, and wants to hear about your experience working with (or being!) a Deaf developer.