Mozart Could've Been an Engineer - Music + Code

Would you hire an opera singer to build your website? A pianist to build your mobile app? After this talk, you might not think it’s a crazy idea.
As I transitioned from professional opera singer to web developer, I was blown away by the many parallels between music and code. During this talk, you’ll learn about those parallels by examining the similarities in syntax, structure, and learning process. As real-world examples, we’ll compare “Mary Had a Little Lamb” to a “Hello, World” app, and we’ll see how Bach might have coded a Rails Todo app.
Along the way, we’ll see how musical training strengthens pattern recognition, problem solving and collaboration, helping us become better software engineers.
Warning: parts of this talk may be sung. Yes, you may bring your own instruments.

Transcript

1. Mozart Could’ve Been an Engineer
   Music + Code
   

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2. • Parallels between music and code
   • Musician’s brain == Coder’s brain
   • How we learn
   • How we build
   • How we problem solve
   • How we succeed
   What’s Happening Here?
   

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3. Catherine Meyers
   @ccmeyers324
   mavenlink.com/engineering
   Opera Singer / Software Engineer
   slides: bit.ly/music-code-ruby
   

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4. Studies on Musical Training and the Brain
   @ccmeyers324
   

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5. Cold, Hard #funfacts!
   1. Watson, Alan H D. “What studying musicians tell us about motor control of the hand.“ School of Biosciences, Cardiff University. http://
   www.musicandhealth.co.uk/articles/WatsonReview06.pdf
   2. Schellenberg, E. Glenn. “Long-Term Positive Associations Between Music Lessons and IQ.” Journal of Educational Psychology. http://
   www.erin.utoronto.ca/~w3psygs/JEdPsych2006.pdf
   3. Habibi, Assai et.al. “Neural correlates of accelerated auditory processing in children engaged in music training”. Developmental Cognitive
   Neuroscience. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878929315301122
   4. Luke-Ebbeler, Merrilee. “Why are so many software developers also musicians?”. https://teamgaslight.com/blog/why-are-so-many-software-developers-
   also-musicians
   • Pianists have a more symmetrical central sulcus, the part of
   the brain that gives evidence of right/left handedness
   • Learning to play an instrument is linked to a higher IQ
   • Music education is associated with enhanced ability to
   process speech and language
   • IBM used to recruit music majors to hire as programmers
   @ccmeyers324
   

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6. Who the Heck am I??
   @ccmeyers324
   

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7. @ccmeyers324
   

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8. @ccmeyers324
   

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9. @ccmeyers324
   

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10. Opera Singer => Software Engineer???
    WAT???
    @ccmeyers324
    

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11. @ccmeyers324
    

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12. @ccmeyers324
    

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13. Break it down now!
    @ccmeyers324
    

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14. def statement_of_fact(language)
    puts “#{language} is the coolest!”
    end
    statement_of_fact(“Ruby”)
    @ccmeyers324
    

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15. @ccmeyers324
    

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16. @ccmeyers324
    

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17. @ccmeyers324
    

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18. @ccmeyers324
    

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19. @ccmeyers324
    

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20. @ccmeyers324
    

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21. @ccmeyers324
    

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22. @ccmeyers324
    

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23. # config/routes.rb
    Rails.application.routes.draw do
    resources :lists do
    resources :tasks
    end
    root 'lists#index'
    end
    # app/controllers/lists_controller.rb
    class ListsController < ApplicationController
    def index
    @lists = List.all
    end
    ...
    end
    # app/controllers/tasks_controller.rb
    class TasksController < ApplicationController
    def create
    @list = List.find(params[:list_id])
    @task = @list.tasks.create(task_params)
    redirect_to list_path(@list)
    end
    ...
    end
    # app/models/list.rb
    class List < ApplicationRecord
    has_many :tasks, dependent: :destroy
    validates :title, presence: true
    end
    # app/models/task.rb
    class Task < ApplicationRecord
    belongs_to :list
    validates :title, presence: true
    end
    # app/views/lists/show.html.erb
    <%= @list.title %>
    <% if @list.tasks %>
    <%= render @list.tasks %>
    <% end %>
    Add a task:
    <%= render "tasks/form" %>
    @ccmeyers324
    

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24. PATTERNS
    @ccmeyers324
    

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25. def statement_of_fact(language)
    puts “#{language} is the coolest!”
    end
    statement_of_fact(“Ruby”)
    @ccmeyers324
    

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26. # config/routes.rb
    Rails.application.routes.draw do
    resources :lists do
    resources :tasks
    end
    root 'lists#index'
    end
    # app/controllers/lists_controller.rb
    class ListsController < ApplicationController
    def index
    @lists = List.all
    end
    ...
    end
    # app/controllers/tasks_controller.rb
    class TasksController < ApplicationController
    def create
    @list = List.find(params[:list_id])
    @task = @list.tasks.create(task_params)
    redirect_to list_path(@list)
    end
    ...
    end
    # app/models/list.rb
    class List < ApplicationRecord
    has_many :tasks, dependent: :destroy
    validates :title, presence: true
    end
    # app/models/task.rb
    class Task < ApplicationRecord
    belongs_to :list
    validates :title, presence: true
    end
    # app/views/lists/show.html.erb
    <%= @list.title %>
    <% if @list.tasks %>
    <%= render @list.tasks %>
    <% end %>
    Add a task:
    <%= render "tasks/form" %>
    @ccmeyers324
    

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27. @ccmeyers324
    

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28. Break it down now!
    @ccmeyers324
    

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29. @ccmeyers324
    

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30. @ccmeyers324
    

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31. @ccmeyers324
    

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32. @ccmeyers324
    

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34. Information Processing
    @ccmeyers324
    

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38. Music Education and the Corpus Callosum
    image source: http://ohiofetalmedicine.org/
    source: Collins, Anita. “How playing an instrument benefits your brain.” http://ed.ted.com/
    lessons/how-playing-an-instrument-benefits-your-brain-anita-collins
    @ccmeyers324
    

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39. A B
    Problem Solving
    @ccmeyers324
    

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40. Never,
    never,
    never
    give up.
    Winston Churchill
    @ccmeyers324
    

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41. concept introduced by Carol Dweck
    @ccmeyers324
    

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42. Collaboration
    @ccmeyers324
    Photo courtesy of #WOCinTech Chat
    

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43. Why Does this Matter?
    • Don’t let untapped resources pass you by
    • Diverse backgrounds make a difference
    • Music education matters
    • Don’t be afraid to get into (or back into) music
    @ccmeyers324
    

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44. Thank You!
    @ccmeyers324
    cmeyers@mavenlink.com
    mavenlink.com/engineering
    slides: bit.ly/music-code-ruby
    

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