Back in Action!

I know it’s cliché to blog about blogging, but I’d like to take this opportunity to explain why there has been such a lull. In short, I’ve been busy.

Finished Programming F#

As you might have heard, I was working on a book. Well no more! The book is done and only undergoing minor technical edits (read fixing bugs due to breaking changes). Check for it in stores late October.

Unfortunately, the sad news is that the final book will have a different cover than the previously discussed Jelly Fish. Instead, it’ll be a fat (but cute) songbird… Perhaps singing in the key of F#? (Sorry to disappoint you Greg.)

Finished my Masters Degree

I’ve been attending the University of Washington’s Professional Masters Program for the past few years, and I finally got around to graduating. If you live in the Seattle area and are interested in taking your education to the next level I would highly recommend it. I certainly wouldn’t be able to excel at my job working on the F# team if it weren’t for taking a few graduate-level classes in Programming Languages and Compilers.

Went to Japan

After working nights and weekends for over a year with the book and grad school, I figured I would take a little vacation. So I spent a week in Japan bumming around with a buddy of mine. I’ll spare you the boring details, but let’s just say a LOT of karaoke was involved.

Spoke at DevLink

Last week I was in Nashville speaking at DevLink. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet up with some old friends and find plenty of new ones. There I gave four talks on F# and functional programming, totaling six hours of material. Some talks went better than others, but I’m pleased to note that the talk I really wanted to knock out of the park – F# for Architects: Hitting the sweet spot – was very well received.

Edit 8/20: I'll post the slides for the F# for Architects talk here later this week.

So What’s Next?

So where does that leave me? Now that I’ve got my new degree, the book coming out, and some painful personal life drama behind me – what’s next? Well I’ve been thinking about that myself for a while. And the answer is more of the same. Specifically, I want to keep writing, blogging, and getting an awesome v1.0 of F# out and in the hands of developers. So check back soon!

Comments

• Anonymous
  August 19, 2009
  i like the bird, even more than the jellofish, looking forward to book!

• Anonymous
  August 19, 2009
  Congrats man! I can't wait to see the book... now I gotta figure out how to wrangle a free review copy out of O'Reilly ;)

• Anonymous
  August 20, 2009
  Yeaahh cool.. thank you for the book.. is now on my wishlist.

• Anonymous
  August 20, 2009
  Hi Chris, do you have any idea if your talks from Devlink will be available online anywhere? I'd be particularly interested to see F# for architects, but they all look interesting.

• Anonymous
  August 20, 2009
  I'm working on transcribing my F# for Architects talk right now, it will be posted here either tonight or tomorrow. -Chris

• Anonymous
  August 20, 2009
  F#UN! (BIG F# FUN) Congratulations. F#'ers are lucky to have you as a resource. Art Scott

• Anonymous
  September 02, 2009
  Congrats for the Drago... wait...it's not... it is ...is it a Bullfinch?

• Anonymous
  September 08, 2009
  Blogging about blogging isn't nearly as annoying as top-10 lists. :) Congrats on the book! Looking forward to F# getting more main-stream!

• Anonymous
  September 14, 2009

1. The bird is cute!  You're all published and legit and stuff.  You should send me an autographed first edition. :D
2. Yay graduation!
3. Yay Japan!
4. Yay you! -LMRO'B