RedDotRubyConf 2014: Magenta is a Lie - and other tales of abstraction

Abstraction is a fundamental approach in programming. It shapes how we solve problems, it is a defining factor in how we view the internals of software and even the world surrounding it and us. The questions of when, how and what to abstract are some of the biggest in computer science and can make the difference between good and bad code. This talk is a fresh take on different facets of abstractions we encounter, build on and have to fight with.

Transcript

1. Magenta is a Lie and other tales of abstraction
8. Abstraction
9. –Zachary Scott “Too much magic… Um, you mean in general? It can make make stuff simpler to understand, if that’s your goal. But it’s easy to go too far.”
11. Basis of Science
16. Picking the right abstraction is crucial
17. In Computer Science, everything is an abstraction
19. With a lot of room for interpretation
20. This makes it similar to art
22. Abstracting away Semantics
23. Generic Algorithms
28. Data Abstraction
29. “Dataless Programming” RM Balzer - 1967
33. Control Abstraction
34. Subroutines
35. “Go To Statement considered harmfull” Edsger Dijkstra, 1968
36. “Protection in Programming Languages" James H. Morris Jr., 1973
38. You should be able to reason about modules in isolation
39. “Global Variables Considered Harmful” W.A. Wulf, M. Shaw, 1973
40. Data Abstraction + Control Abstraction = Object Oriented Programming?
42. #alankayholdingthings
43. –Alan Kay “OOP to me means only messaging, local retention and protection and hiding of state- process, and extreme late-binding of all things.”
46. We make the rules
47. Some rules enable good programs (For some definition of good.)
48. Single Responsibility Principle
49. Liskov Substitution Principle
50. Law of Demeter
52. Don’t abstract too much, too early
54. Is inheritance a good abstraction?
55. Used for type hierarchy and implementation sharing
57. Strong external abstractions allow weak internal abstractions
58. Distributed Applications
60. Abstraction as a Security Issue
61. Almost all attacks rely on switching up or down abstraction levels
63. Social Engineering
65. Abstraction
66. UI as Abstraction
67. Metaphor
69. Colour
70. Light
74. Trichromacy
84. ?
85. ?
88. Is magenta real?
89. # FF00FF
92. Leaky abstraction?
95. Space
100. Tetrachromacy
102. 2-3% of all women? 50% of all women?
103. Gene on X chromosome OPN1MW and OPN1MW2
104. Women could have up to six colour cones
105. Mostly dysfunctional
106. At least two confirmed cases
107. Seeing millions of more colours
114. Why dysfunctional? (my own unscientific theory)
115. We don’t see colours with our eyes
116. We see colours with our brain
117. Our brain adjusts colours
118. We don’t see colours we don’t have an abstract concept for
120. When we learn to speak, colour perception switches from left brain side to right brain side
122. Himba Tribe (Namibia)
124. zuzu: dark shades of blue, red, green and purple ! vapa: white, some shades of yellow ! buru: some shades of green and blue ! dambu: some shades of green, red and brown
128. Abstraction happens in our minds
129. All abstraction
130. OOP happens in our mind, not our computer
131. UI happens in our mind, not our computer
134. “Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. ! Anything that's invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it. ! Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things” –Douglas Adams
136. Countries exist in our mind
137. In our collective mind
138. Changing abstractions is a basic principle of innovation and progress
140. Is magenta a colour?
142. Yes
144. Thanks! @konstantinhaase me@rkh.im