Realistic Functional Programming

Slides from my keynote at Scala By The Schuylkill on January 24, 2017.

Transcript

1. Realistic Functional Programming Michael Pilquist // @mpilquist Scala By The Schuylkill January 2017
2. Who Am I? • Work at Comcast as part of CCAD & Video Org • Build state of the art control systems that manage set-top boxes, consumer devices, and video distribution equipment • Using Scala since 2008 • Open source • Primary author of scodec, simulacrum, cedi-config • Maintainer of FS2 (formerly scalaz-stream) • Committer to Cats 2
4. Complexity is the root cause of the vast majority of problems with software today. Unreliability, late delivery, lack of security -- often even poor performance in large-scale systems can all be seen as deriving ultimately from unmanageable complexity. — Ben Moseley & Peter Marks. Out of the Tar Pit. 2006
5. …we have to keep it crisp, disentangled, and simple if we refuse to be crushed by the complexities of our own making… — Edgar Dijkstra. The Tide, Not the Waves. 1997 Image credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edsger_W._Dijkstra#/media/File:Edsger_Wybe_Dijkstra.jpg CC BY-SA 3.0
6. There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies. The first method is far more difficult. — C.A.R. Hoare. 1980 Turing Award Lecture, The Emperor’s Old Clothes. Image credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Hoare#/media/File:Sir_Tony_Hoare_IMG_5125.jpg CC BY-SA 2.0 fr
7. It demands the same skill, devotion, insight, and even inspiration as the discovery of the simple physical laws which underlie the complex phenomena of nature. — C.A.R. Hoare. 1980 Turing Award Lecture, The Emperor’s Old Clothes. Image credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Hoare#/media/File:Sir_Tony_Hoare_IMG_5125.jpg CC BY-SA 2.0 fr
8. Unfamiliar ≭ Complex
10. …one of the great ideas in Functional Programming: constructing software systems from small expressions that can be understood in isolation. — José Manuel. http://jmct.cc/1/. 2017 Image credit: https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1295057087/25229_727959825617_10611734_41545628_160685_n_400x400.jpg Used with permission.
11. Our ability to decompose a problem in to parts depends directly on our ability to glue solutions together. — John Hughes. Why Functional Programming Matters. 1990 Image credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hughes_(computer_scientist)#/media/File:John_Hughes_(computer_scientist).jpg CC-BY-SA 3.0
12. Abstraction Composition Precision — Rúnar Bjarnason. Constraints Liberate, Liberties Constrain. 2015 Image credit: https://www.goodreads.com/photo/author/5774803.R_nar_Bjarnason/wiki/John_Hughes_(computer_scientist)#/media/File:John_Hughes_(computer_scientist).jpg Used with permission.
13. def f(p: Boolean, q: Boolean): Boolean
14. p q ⊤ p ⋁ q p ← q p p → q q p 㲗 q p ⋀ q t t t t t t t t t t t f t t t t f f f f f t t t f f t t f f f f t f t f t f t f p q ⊥ p ↓ q p ≰ q ¬p p ≯ q ¬q p ⊕ q p ↑ q t t f f f f f f f f t f f f f f t t t t f t f f t t f f t t f f f t f t f t f t
15. def f[A](p: A, q: A): A
16. def f[A](p: A, q: A): A = p def f[A](p: A, q: A): A = q
17. Abstraction can appear to take you further and further away from reality, but really you’re getting closer and closer to the heart of the matter.
 — Eugenia Cheng, How To Bake π Image credit: Paul Crisanti of PhotoGetGo. Used with permission.
18. trait Semigroup[A] { def combine(x: A, y: A): A } trait Monoid[A] extends Semigroup[A] { def id: A }
19. val x = Map("odds"  Set(1, 3), "evens"  Set(2, 4)) val y = Map("odds"  Set(5, 7), "evens"  Set(6, 8)) Semigroup[Map[String, Set[Int]]].combine(x, y) // Map("odds"  Set(1, 3, 5, 7), "evens"  Set(2, 4, 6, 8))
20. def sgMap[A, B]: Semigroup[Map[A, B]] = new Semigroup[Map[A, B]] { def combine(x: Map[A, B], y: Map[A, B]): Map[A, B] = { ??? } }
21. def sgMap[A, B]: Semigroup[Map[A, B]] = new Semigroup[Map[A, B]] { def combine(x: Map[A, B], y: Map[A, B]): Map[A, B] = { y.foldLeft(x) { case (acc, (a, b))  val newB: B = acc.get(a). map(prevB  ???). getOrElse(b) acc.updated(a, newB) } } }
22. def sgMap[A, B]( implicit B: Semigroup[B] ): Semigroup[Map[A, B]] = new Semigroup[Map[A, B]] { def combine(x: Map[A, B], y: Map[A, B]): Map[A, B] = { y.foldLeft(x) { case (acc, (a, b))  val newB: B = acc.get(a). map(prevB  B.combine(prevB, b)). getOrElse(b) acc.updated(a, newB) } } }
23. Given a choice of solutions, pick the least powerful solution capable of solving your problem
 — Li Haoyi. Strategic Scala Style: Principle of Least Power. 2016 Image credit: https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/475467756947513344/U2n2AzKv.jpeg Used with permission.
25. Functional programming intellectual elitism is odd since a big point of FP is I’m not smart enough to program without discipline and tools. Read Backus: FP should aid in writing programs the author can understand (& prove things about). One discipline is simplicity!
 — Alex Gurney. 2016 Image used with permission.
26. Realistic Functional Programming • FP is a discipline of humility • Be intentional about adoption • Be disciplined about referential transparency, totality, & abstraction • Don't get overwhelmed by abstract nonsense 26