SICMUtils is a Clojure library designed for interactive exploration of mathematical physics. It is simultaneously a work of persuasive writing, a collection of essays on functional pearls and computational ideas, a stable of workhorse functional abstractions, and a practical place to work and visualize algorithms and physical systems, on a server or in the browser.

How do you build a library like this? This talk will go through the architecture of SICMUtils, based on many of the ideas of “additive programming” from Gerald Sussman and Chris Hanson’s latest book, Software Design for Flexibility. We’ll look at surprising examples of the system becoming easier to extend over time. Clojure’s embrace of its host platform lets us use the best modern work in Javascript for visualization, while keeping the horsepower of our servers for real work. Lisp’s particular elegance will shine throughout.

SICMUtils is a Clojure library designed for interactive exploration of mathematical physics. It is simultaneously a work of persuasive writing, a collection of essays on functional pearls and computational ideas, a stable of workhorse functional abstractions, and a practical place to work and visualize algorithms and physical systems, on a server or in the browser.

How do you build a library like this? This talk will go through the architecture of SICMUtils, based on many of the ideas of “additive programming” from Gerald Sussman and Chris Hanson’s latest book, Software Design for Flexibility. We’ll look at surprising examples of the system becoming easier to extend over time. Clojure’s embrace of its host platform lets us use the best modern work in Javascript for visualization, while keeping the horsepower of our servers for real work. Lisp’s particular elegance will shine throughout.

Bio: I’m a researcher at the Mentat Collective, and currently working on a series of interactive, multiplayer computational textbooks for exploring mathematical physics and other forms of modeled reality. I’ve lived past work-lives at (Google) X, Stripe, Twitter, founded Paddleguru and Racehub; I’m most well known in the software world as the author of Summingbird, Algebird, and SICMUtils, and as the maintainer of Cascalog. I have a secret identity as a mountain athlete and amateur aircraft mechanic, and live with wife Jenna and daughter Juno in Boulder, Colorado.

Sam is a researcher at the Mentat Collective, currently working on a series of interactive, multiplayer computational textbooks for exploring mathematical physics and other forms of modeled reality. He has worked as an engineer at (Google) X, Stripe, Twitter, and founded Paddleguru and Racehub. Sam is most well known in the software world as the author of Summingbird, Algebird, and SICMUtils, and as the maintainer of Cascalog. He has a secret identity as a mountain athlete and amateur aircraft mechanic, and lives with wife Jenna and daughter Juno in Boulder, Colorado.