06-06, 12:30–13:00 (Europe/Madrid), Auditorium
We're programmers, and we're full of intention, programming our will in symbols, to be executed by machines. From automated testing to our agile workflows, the values of our discipline are aligned around intention. For us, success means successfully bringing about what we intended.
But, in all this vigorous, forward-looking intention, I think we overlook another kind of meaning, that is to be found in attention. I think that by looking at other arts and disciplines we can discover something new that we can bring to programming, to enrich it and make it deeper and more fulfilling - and possibly even better.
"I photograph to find out what something will look like photographed", said the great photographer Garry Winogrand. The genius of his work lies in his phenomenal powers of attention, his ability to see. Seeing is a deliberate act.
What do programmers "see"? How well do we do it? And are we so full of intention that we fail to pay attention?
I want to pursue this question, with the aid of philosophers, poets and photography, and I want to light up a potential dimension in programming that I haven't seen explored. For example: why is it that a story or photograph can be about something, but we never hear of a computer programme that is about something? Is it not possible? Or have we just missed it? We're all familiar with love poems and love songs - could a love program exist? What would it look like?
I think we can answer all those questions in interesting ways, that connect our understanding and appreciation of the world and our arts with programming. I think that they can suggest new opportunities and ideas to us. And, I think that it can make a difference to us, even as practically-minded Django programmers doing practical work.
Video: https://youtu.be/I89B5wdb0BQ
Community
Audience Level –Beginner
I am a Director of Engineering at Canonical, where I lead documentation practice. I enjoy helping organise community conferences for Python and Django. That includes multiple editions of DjangoCon Europe, as well as the first editions of PyCon Africa and DjangoCon Africa.
I also enjoy helping people and open-source projects improve their documentation.