
We Really Don't Know How to Compute (2011) [video] - rfreytag
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3tVctB_VSU
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lidHanteyk
I wanted to see the slides, so I tracked them down:
[https://github.com/strangeloop/2011-slides/blob/master/Sussm...](https://github.com/strangeloop/2011-slides/blob/master/Sussman-
WeDontKnowHowToCompute.pdf)

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jgeada
Interesting: what is being described is a computational paradigm very similar
to traditional hardware description languages (Verilog, SystemVerilog, VHDL,
etc)

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i_don_t_know
Briefly glancing through the slides, this appears to be based on the work in
"The Art of the Propagator" by Alexey Radul and Gerald Jay Sussman.

[PDF] [https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/44215/MIT-
CSA...](https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/44215/MIT-CSAIL-
TR-2009-002.pdf)

See also the recent discussion:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20405183](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20405183)

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dang
Discussed at the time:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3163473](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3163473)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2820118](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2820118)

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dmix
I could listen to Sussman talk about computers for days.

I’m jealous of the kids at MIT who got to be his student.

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nanomonkey
Quite a few of his MIT lectures are online, like the SICP lectures:
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8FE88AA54363BC46](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8FE88AA54363BC46)

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dmix
Oh I know, I’ve watched all of those twice. I adore those lectures. It’s what
converted me from a frontend dev dabbling in backend programming into a
dedicated programmer ~10yrs ago.

They way they approach programming using Scheme, building complex concepts
from nothing like Lego blocks. Plus it contains one of the best explanations
of abstraction which is probably the most important and powerful part of
programming, that really blew my mind back then. Choosing when and how to
balance abstraction in your code is still a daily challenge, even as I’ve
matured as a developer, which makes me think back to these lectures often.

~~~
tenaciousDaniel
As someone who is a self taught front-end dev, this comment has peaked my
curiosity. I'll now have to give these lectures a listen over the weekend.

~~~
mattcaldwell
piqued

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tenaciousDaniel
You learn something new every day.

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tosh
on infoq: [https://www.infoq.com/presentations/We-Really-Dont-Know-
How-...](https://www.infoq.com/presentations/We-Really-Dont-Know-How-To-
Compute/)

