Eliminate Arguments: Point Free Style Programming

Point-Free programming is all about how we can write small composable functions that can be built together like lego blocks to build our application logic. Similar to how components changed the way we write user interfaces, point-free programming will change the way you write business logic.

In this talk, we will explore the concepts of Point Free or Tacit programming. Similar to how components changed the way we write user interfaces, point-free programming can help you rethink how you write your complex application logic. This style encourages us to write smaller and more easily understood functions that we can compose together into bigger pieces just like legos blocks. We will go over some fun examples of how we can take our regular day to day code and convert it over to a Point-Free style and explore the pros and cons of this technique. We will be working from the ground up so no prior knowledge of functional programming is required to learn and all will be able to take away some cool and unique ideas on how to organize their code.

While this topic deals with functional programming, we will be exploring it from an angle that requires no prior knowledge in the often esoteric or jargon-filled nature of that environment. I have spent the bulk of my career, especially as I was consulting previously, on helping educate programmers on functional programming without the jargon and mathematics that can make it seem intimidating. I focus on introducing concepts I believe are applicable to any codebase regardless if it was entirely written functionally or not. I have previously held a number of boot camps at various companies including Apple and Slalom introducing a variety of topics including React and of course real-world functional programming with point-free techniques.