Mackenzie Morgan

Senior Software Engineer at NextRoll

Mackenzie is a former Ubuntu developer and long-time Python programmer who switched to Elixir in 2020 and found that functional programming clicked in a way Python never had. In her spare time, she watches women’s soccer, sews, and dances tango.

Talk:
Relearning How to Think

Raise your hand if you feel like whatever programming classes you’ve taken adequately covered functional programming. My hand is down. How about yours?

The typical data structure & algorithms class assumes that you have arrays, pointers, and the ability to change the data at the other end of your pointer. Recursion is treated as a neat little toy. That’s not the world we’re programming in here.

In this talk, we’ll explore how the differences between functional programming in Elixir and imperative programming lead us to take different approaches in structuring our algorithms. We’ll start with a refresher on some basics before diving into the sample problems. We’ll also address efficient use of recursion.

TALK OBJECTIVE:

  • Fill the knowledge gap left by the imperative-programming-centricity of typical data structures & algorithms courses and resources, so that Elixir devs can write performant code.

TARGET AUDIENCE:

  • People transitioning to Elixir from more mainstream tech stacks.