RubyConf 2012 recap (part 2)

Continuing from part 1 of the recap, here are the remaining six talks I attended during RubyConf in Denver:

• Y Not – Adventures in Functional Programming by Jim Weirich
  Jim’s presentations never disappoint and this was no exception. Similar to his prior talk where he built Git from scratch, except this time he build the Y-combinator using nothing but stabby procs. Mind blowing.

• Ruby vs. the World by Matt Aimonetti
  A fascinating look at how Ruby stacks up agains three other languages: Go, Clojure, and Scala. Matt included plenty of code examples and shared his thoughts about the pros and cons of each language.

• Real Time Salami by Aaron Patterson
  Building real-time monitoring systems in Ruby while enjoying delicious salami. What better combination could there be? Aaron even brought samples for everyone. I won’t call it bribery… [slides]

• Inside RubyMotion by Rich Kilmer
  One of the most crowded talks of the conf, Rich demonstrated how to build iOS applications in pure Ruby. Impressive is an understatement. Does this project offer sweet escape from the dungeons of Objective-C? You be the judge.

• The Insufficiency of Good Design by Sarah Mei
  A practical exploration of team dynamics, communication, code quality, and problem solving. [slides]

• Simulating the World with Ruby by Bryan Liles
  The real world has millions of “objects” interacting in seemingly random ways. How would we go about modeling this in Ruby? Bryan demonstrated how and threw in a healthy dose of statistics for good measure. [slides]

Attending RubyConf this year made me regret skipping last year. I’m looking forward to visiting Miami Beach for RubyConf 2013.

If you’re interested in picking up new tricks and techniques for your own programming, or are just looking for a healthy dose of motivation, you should consider attending as well. My advice is to act fast once tickets are announced. They tend to sell out very quickly.