Functional Programming in Ember: Daniel Chappell at Q2 eBanking

Real World Ember

We talk functional programming in Ember, functional programming in other languages (including languages that transpile to Javascript), and functional programming in theory.

• Daniel Chappell
  • 2.5 years programming exp, previous career was as a photographer
  • motivation for starting programming was getting out of photography, but he soon came to love programming for itself
• functional programming
  • functional style makes codebase safer and easier to change and collaborate on
  • Computed Properties in Ember are pure functions
  • Should separate code into functional and imperative pieces, with imperative as small as possible
  • Recognized a lot of Functional philosophy in Ember
  • Most Ember code can be turned into Computed Properties
  • Types of Ember Code where mutation are fine: hooks and actions
  • These happen based on user actions- changing the route, changing data, interacting with the screen
  • Computed Properties are as trustworthy as functional properties thanks to how Ember updates them for us
  • Data Flow
  • Elmber <- Please create!
  • Javascript is getting way better! Thanks TC39 and Babel.js!
  • ES6 + Babel has made transpiling cool whereas it wasn’t before (Somewhere, Jeremy Ashkenas weeps)
  • Coffeescript helped us understand Javascript
  • Type systems
  • Algebraic data types
  • Not an expert in all of FP, but it informs how he writes code
  • Javascript facilitates multi-paradigm coding
  • “Patterns are language features that haven’t been implemented yet"
  • Patterns are the testing ground for new ways of organizing code
  • Javascript is flexible enough to emulate most other languages’ patterns
  • Scheme is another example of a language that is flexible enough to emulate other languages’ patterns
  • He invests in eMacs because he wants to mess around with lisp
• Q2 eBanking
  • Provides high-quality banking software for small local banks that wouldn’t be able to build one themselves
  • Web, Android, and iOS experiences all from the same Ember codebase
  • Mission: keep small community banks/credit unions competitive with the big banks
  • Jeffrey just opened a business account with a Q2-affiliated bank, and the software is great
  • Ember has been great for the project- especially the commitment to semantic versioning
• They’re hiring!
  • You can work with Ember all day every day
  • If you’re investing your time in Ember, they want to talk to you
  • Reach out to @josephdchappell on twitter
• Sponsored by EmberScreencasts.com