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Title: Refactoring to Functional
Proposer: steve_freeman
Type: Workshop
Duration: 90 minutes
Description: Knowing functional techniques leads to better object oriented code, just as knowing about objects leads to better procedural code. The trick is getting from here to there.

At a previous XpDay, several of us found that we'd developed a similar approach to writing Java which includes a strong bias towards immutability and functional code within objects. The game changers have been a JVM that makes transient objects cheap, and Google nearly-lazy collections library. We've found that the resulting code style is easier to understand and less prone to certain kinds of bug. Working in this style, we've found that there are some common patterns for moving to a “functional-inside” approach to code.

In this workshop, I will present some techniques for moving from imperative to functional code, with worked exercises for the participants to join in.

Jon: Steve notes - I think this will have to be a limited size session, unless I get someone to help out.
Jon: Steve notes - I did this last year with some colleagues, but that was demo-style
Jon: Steve notes - This version is based on Java. It could be ported to other languages that have equivalent functional constructs. I could get someone in to help with a port to C# if required.
Roger: Like the idea, are we stymied by the size limit?
Ewan: I like the idea too, and this is an area that Steve is highly expert in. It was on the programme last year, and was a very good presentation. So this would need to be workshop based - and billed as such - to make the distinction. I think Steve probably does need a co-presenter. This is tough, but only a MAYBE