Track host
About the track
Programming languages are more than tools—they shape how we think about and solve problems. As software evolves, so do the languages and paradigms we rely on to build it. This track explores how programming languages are adapting to address the challenges of modern software engineering, from improving developer productivity to solving complex real-world problems.
We'll dive into emerging trends in language design, lessons from managing massive legacy codebases, and the philosophies driving simplicity and innovation. You’ll hear from experts working with diverse languages and paradigms—uncovering what’s possible today and what’s on the horizon. Whether you’re a seasoned developer or curious about the future, this track will leave you with fresh ideas and practical insights to bring back to your team.
Sessions in this track
Tuesday 19 November. 6 sessions per track, chosen and introduced by the Track Host.
10:35 Pacific DEKJ Session Programming languages Moving Your Bugs Forward in Time: Language Trends That Help You Catch Your Bugs at Build Time Instead of Run Time Chris Price Software Engineer @Momento, Previously Launched New Video Streaming Services @AWS, 10+ Years in Engineering Leadership at Software Startups As we grow as engineers, one of the key realizations that we inevitably come to is that the maintainability of our codebases is of paramount importance to their long-term success. 11:45 Ballroom A Session Types and Programming Languages Refactoring Stubborn, Legacy Codebases Jake Zimmerman, Getty Ritter At Stripe, we manage a codebase of tens of millions of lines of Ruby. Like any large codebase, people have no shortage of complaints about it, and it's our job to fix those complaints. 13:35 Ballroom BC Session Platform Engineering Platform Engineering: Evolution, Trends, and Future Impact on Software Delivery Paula Kennedy Cofounder & COO @Syntasso, Previously Senior Director Platform Services @VMware and @Pivotal, 20+ Years in the IT Industry Platform Engineering is frequently hailed as the latest paradigm shift enabling developers to ship code faster - but is it simply a return to the pre-DevOps era of siloed teams focusing on narrow parts of the software lifecycle? 14:45 Pacific DEKJ Session Staff Plus Engineering Clojure 2024 Jordan Miller Sociotechnical Staff Engineer @Nubank, Co-Founder of Clojure Camp, Host/Producer of Lost in Lambduhhhs Podcast, Co-Author Clojure Brain Teasers, Co-Orga Heart of Clojure EU In 2007, Rich Hickey introduced Clojure with a clear mission: to offer the simplicity of functional programming with the practicality of languages like Java and C#. 15:55 Seacliff D Unconference Unconference: Programming Languages 17:05 Pacific DEKJ Session Taming the Configuration Beast with Pkl! Dan Chao Software Engineer @Apple Infrastructure-as-code has revolutionized the way that infrastructure and applications get managed, increasing velocity and scalability. However, this same philosophy has introduced its own problems.QCon San Francisco 2024 is a three day conference for senior software engineers, architects and team leads. An international program committee of working engineers selects every session. Patterns and practices, not products and pitches.