CaSE: Conversations about Software Engineering

Daniel Westheide, author of “The Neophyte’s guide to Scala” and Stefan Tilkov talk about some advanced Scala features and challenges, such as case classes and the problems they can create, algebraic data types, type classes and implicits, using the compiler for Prolog-like type level programming and programming with generic data structures.

Joy Clark talks with David Nolen about ClojureScript. David introduces the language and discusses the direction that the language is heading in. He talks about how the language is compiled to JavaScript and how it takes advantage of the the Google Closure Compiler. They then talk about designing user interfaces and how functional programming relates to UI design. To wrap up, David mentions different libraries and frameworks that can be used and recommends tools which can be used to get started programming with ClojureScript.

Stefan Tilkov talks to Camille Fournier about making a career as a manager in a software development organization. Camille shares her insights about when or why someone would want to become a manager and how to become good at it. Other topics include different levels of management from tech lead to CTO, the role of one-on-one meetings, and how managers influence company culture.

Joy Clark talks with Sofia Vaughn-Jones (née Cole) about Scala. Sofia introduces the language and describes its features. They then discuss what kinds of programs can be written with Scala and the tooling and frameworks that are available. They attempt to define what a monad is and how it can be used. To wrap up, Sofia mentions some great resources for getting started with Scala.

In this episode, Stefan Tilkov talks to Michele Leroux Bustamante about Microservices. Michele shares her perspective on microservices and what she sees as the difference between SOA and microservices: The way they share data. Stefan and Michele also talk about orchestration, getting started with microservices, platforms for microservices as well as a few short other topics.

Joy Clark talks with Alex Miller about Clojure. Topics include the Clojure language and how it compares to other languages as far as features and maintainability are concerned. The benefits of dynamic languages are also discussed, and clojure.spec is introduced as a way to gain the benefits of statically typed languages. Alex also talks about ways to structure Clojure code and gives a great list of tools and materials for getting started with Clojure.

Lucas Dohmen talks with Eberhard Wolff about microservices. Eberhard Wolff is a fellow at innoQ and wrote a book as well as a primer about microservices. He talks about what lead to microservices and the advantages, and disadvantages of as well as the preconditions for the architecture. He then introduces different styles of microservices and how they influence and are influenced by organizational structures. Eberhard also talks about introducing microservices, how they communicate with each other as well as testing microservices.

Eberhard Wolff talks with Ute Mayer about Rails Girls. Topics include how Rails Girls increase diversity in IT and thereby influence the live of the attendees. Rails Girls is a global movement and does workshops to introduce women to programming. Attendees can then join project groups to work on specific projects and apply for the Rails Girls Summer of Code to develop open source projects. The training material is free and open source - and includes information how to start a Rails Girls group. There are many way to support: Rails Girls is looking for coaches and sponsors.

Joy Clark talks with Chad Fowler about legacy software and immutable infrastructure. They begin by discussing legacy software and why the description 'legacy' shouldn't actually be a bad thing. Then they contrast how reusable libraries differ from a system of services which is flexible and can change over time. Chad then describes how they developed Wunderlist using a microservices architecture and answers questions about how to practically develop and test such a system and how to decrease coupling between components. They wrap up by discussing how the principles of immutable infrastructure can be applied to software development in general.

Joy Clark talks with Stefan Tilkov about software architecture. After discussing the definition of software architecture, they go on to cover what the role 'Software Architect' actually means and what tools and skills an architect needs to do their job. They also discuss several different architectural styles which can be used and look at the most common styles that are currently employed today. To help us on our quest to becoming software architects, Stefan also gives a great lists of resources that we can use as a starting point.

Eberhard Wolff talks with Martin Stadler about OpenTechSchool, an organization that helps people to learn about programming and software development. Topics include the different types of events and material OpenTechSchool offers and how OpenTechSchool enables a hands-on, empowering, and peer-driven approach. We also discuss the organization, the core values and how OpenTechSchool increases diversity. OpenTechSchool has a lot of partners and local chapters that take different approaches. Of course the show also talks about how to join OpenTechSchool, how to help and how to start your own chapter.

Eberhard Wolff talks with Oliver Gierke about Spring Data. The show starts with an overview of the Java framework Spring and its ecosystem. The focus of the show is Spring Data: A set of frameworks that support many different relational and NoSQL datastores. The show then discusses how Spring Data is developed and released. Another topic is how reactive programming influences persistence and how transactions make little sense for reactive architectures. Finally, the show covers Spring Data REST — a framework to expose Spring Data repositories as REST resources — and how this concept is useful beyond simple CRUD operations.

Stefan Tilkov talks to Jen Simmons about CSS, the standard for applying layout rules to HTML pages. Jen talks about the often misunderstood role of CSS in the Web stack, why it matters, and how it has grown ever more powerful over the course of time. Also included: Some discussion about why so many developers don’t like CSS and what to do about it, and new features coming to the CSS standard.