Keynote: Neal Ford

Presentation topic: Language-Oriented Programming: Shifting Paradigms

Language: English

Neal Ford is Software Architect and Meme Wrangler at ThoughtWorks, a global IT consultancy with an exclusive focus on end-to-end software development and delivery. He is also the designer and developer of applications, instructional materials, magazine articles, video/DVD presentations, and author of 5 books spanning a variety of technologies including JBuilder 3 Unleashed, Art of Java Web Development. He focuses on designing and building of large-scale enterprise applications.

Check out his web site.

Abstract Domain specific languages have been “the next big thing” for a while now. Despite the hype, our understanding of this different paradigm continues to evolve. This keynote highlights the compelling features of this abstraction style and provides updates to the current state of the art. This keynote differentiates the different types of DSLs (internal, external, and hybrid) and shows applications where they greatly improve abstractions. We have learned enough about DSLs to start talking about Design Patterns of DSLs, which are highlighted. And, tool builders efforts to build language workbenches are accelerating. This keynote shows the start of the art for this new category of tool. DSLs won’t kill frameworks, but they can make them more expressive and easier to use. Come see the future preferred abstraction style.

Why is there so much XML mixed in with my Java? Why won’t everyone stop talking about Ruby on Rails? Is there a paradigm shift coming in the way we write code? This keynote answers these questions and more. If you look at the way experienced programmers in dynamic languages work, they tend to build domain specific languages on top of their low-level language. This keynote describes real world DSLs (like business rules), internal and external DSLs, and how to build them in all languages, not just dynamically typed ones. It also explains why this is an important step in the evolution of building effective software. It shows that tool builders like Intentional Software, Microsoft, and JetBrains see this coming paradigm shift and are building the future. Using DSLs evolves the way we build and use frameworks, escalating our abstraction levels closer to the problem domain and further from implementation details. Come visit the future of frameworks.