Next week I’ll be in Kansas City for KCDC, and if you’re attending too, I hope you’ll come find me. I’ll be giving two talks, one hands-on, one high-concept, and in between I plan to soak up as many interesting sessions (and hallway conversations) as possible.
Where You Can Find Me
Wednesday morning I’m running a workshop called “Data Structures Crash Course.” It’s exactly what it says on the tin: a practical, high-speed tour through core CS ideas, meant for folks who’ve maybe never had formal training or just haven’t had it in the last decade or two. We’ll look at patterns that keep coming up in real software, from interviews to the kind of systems that accidentally become mission-critical, and we’ll build some intuition around tradeoffs without falling down the Big-O rabbit hole (unless you really want to).
Thursday after lunch, I’m giving a talk on how we used AI (not LLMs, shockingly enough) to improve the highway maintenance process. I’ll walk through one of the more pragmatic, cool projects I’ve worked on, one where AI actually helps people do their jobs better, without pretending to replace them. It’s not flashy. It’s just useful. That’s the kind of AI I want more of.
Talks I’m Excited About
Of course, I’m not just there to talk; I’m also there to learn. Based on the schedule, there’s a lot to look forward to.
David Giard is doing a session on effective data visualization. I saw it at Nebraska Code a number of years ago, and really enjoyed it. If you’ve never read Edward Tufte’s The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, now’s a great time to correct that oversight. Data viz isn’t just for dashboards; it’s how you get your work to make sense to someone else.
Jennifer Reif has a talk on interpreting your data, which I haven’t seen yet but I’m excited about. Data interpretation is one of those squishier, high-leverage skills that doesn’t get nearly enough attention. We spend a lot of time talking about collecting and storing data, and not nearly enough time asking “But what does this actually mean?”
There are also a few talks floating around the agenda about vibe coding, those magical workflows where the computer somehow knows what you meant. I have… opinions. Strong ones. Let’s just say I’m skeptical of tooling that relies on good vibes and machine guessing. But I’m also genuinely curious to see how others are approaching the topic, because we are going to find the limits of this stuff. The “vibes are off” phase is coming.
Art Doler is speaking on software archaeology, and I’ve missed his talks at more than one conference because we always seem to be scheduled opposite each other. Not this time, so I’m really looking forward to it.
Also, Mark Volkmann is giving a talk on lambda calculus, which is my idea of dessert. If you’ve ever wondered where functional programming gets its bones, the talk looks really promising.
Last but not least, I’ve got my eye on Ganesh Kumar Suresh’s session about Agile methods for data science, and Alyssa Nicoll’s talk on productivity while living with ADHD. Both look great, and unfortunately they’re scheduled opposite each other, which means I’ll be doing the classic “bookmark one, stalk the hallway after the other” routine. (That’s what hallway track is for, right?)
So Please Say Hi, and I’ll See You There
If you’re attending, please say hi! The best part of these events is getting to see all the friends I’ve met before and making some new ones.