How did I come to F#?
After graduating in CS in 2015, I began working in C# at ExxonMobil in Houston, TX. I wanted to learn as fast as I could and was given a Pluralsight subscription. I watched videos on .NET and one course on functional programming in C# recommended learning F#. I watched all 17 courses on F# and downloaded a PDF of Scott Wlaschin’s F# for Fun and Profit and read it all.
Since then, I’ve written a blog post for FsAdvent 2018 https://link.medium.com/LTzH6BsGKW, presented on F# multiple times at work, taken advantage of the FSSF mentoring program twice, attended Open F# 2018, presented at Southern Fried F#, and attended Build 2019.
What can I do for F#?
One thing that became apparent to me at Microsoft Build was how many .NET developers at Microsoft have never tried F#. I think F# needs more users inside of Microsoft. I believe I could lead an effort under the umbrella of the FSSF to teach interested teams F#. Between Don Syme, Phillip Carter, Miguel de Icaza, Lena Hall, Jim Bennett, William Blum, Cheick Keita, Marina Polishchuk, Stas Tishkin, Mark Greisen, and others, I think we can make a real impact. This dogfooding of F# at Microsoft could help improve the language support in Visual Studio, Azure Functions templates, and documentation. Perhaps over time, F# could became the primary language of .NET, not just an alternative to C#.
Contact Information
I have 2 questions I’m going to ask each Board candidate to begin - but first, a little background:
Historically, the programs managed by the F# Software Foundation have been managed and operated by a Board member. While it’s great to see Board members be actively involved and hands-on (something I highly encourage!), the downside to this is that sustainability of programs has suffered at times. For example, the Diversity Program has been very quiet over the last year, as none of the current Board members have “stepped up” into that role and taken it over since the previous member decided not to run in 2018. We run the risk of this again this year - Gien, who has been the core enabler of the Mentorship Program, has decided not to run for the Board this year, which will leave that program in limbo until somebody is setup to run it or a new approach is devised.
- Are there any programs, either existing or new that’d you’d like to see formed, where you would like to take an active role in helping coordinate or enable?
- Given the sustainability concern mentioned above, do you have any ideas for ways to try to keep more consistency in programs moving forward, particularly as Board members come and go?
- Are there any programs, either existing or new that’d you’d like to see formed, where you would like to take an active role in helping coordinate or enable?
The existing programs I would be interested in helping with are Mentorship (2x beneficiary) and Speakers (hopeful beneficiary).
A new program I’d like to see formed is the Microsoft Team Training program to help increase F# adoption inside of Microsoft.
- Given the sustainability concern mentioned above, do you have any ideas for ways to try to keep more consistency in programs moving forward, particularly as Board members come and go?
Perhaps board positions could be tied to initiatives. Nominations for new board members would take the needs of existing and potential new programs into account.