6 ms·

Well deserved and absolutely couldn't happen to a nicer guy. After giving a talk at PLDI when I was a grad student, Simon made a point of walking up to me and

Well deserved and absolutely couldn't happen to a nicer guy. After giving a talk at PLDI when I was a grad student, Simon made a point of walking up to me and saying "Nice talk." That had me walking on air for quite a while (if you watch the videos below, you will understand why). Now, Simon got the award for his (fantastic) research and for his impact on CS education in the UK, but everyone in all of computer science should set aside a couple of hours this weekend to watch his talks on "How to Give a Good Research Talk" and "How to Write a Great Research Paper." Go ahead, I'll wait. http://research.microsoft.com/apps/video/default.aspx?id=168648 http://research.microsoft.com/apps/video/default.aspx?id=168... http://research.microsoft.com/apps/video/default.aspx?id=168649 http://research.microsoft.com/apps/video/default.aspx?id=168... Also, Simon's home page is here: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/people/simonpj/ http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/people/simonpj/

the_af 10y ago
Even if I didn't find Haskell or CS interesting (which I do), I'd still find Simon a nice, funny and engaging speaker. At least judging by the talks I could find online. Researchers, and especially computer-related researchers, sometimes sound arrogant. But in all of Simon's talks I could find, he sounds like a genuinely nice guy. And funny! He sure knows how to give a great talk.
- eru 10y ago
  He also knows how to ask exactly the right question after a talk, to give the speaker great insight into something that stumbled them.
nv-vn 10y ago
Haven't had the chance to meet him ever, but watching his talks or hearing about him from others, it seems like he really breaks the Haskell/functional programmer stereotypes of being a pretentious asshole or being unwelcoming to beginners. Wish people would pay more attention to some of the awesome people like SPJ rather than focusing on the vocal minority.
- axman6 10y ago
  #haskell on freenode has always had s reputation of being open, welcoming and helpful. Try not to mistake pretension for someone talking about something you don't yet understand, which is very often the case when someone is accused of being an pretentious arsehole. Simon is by no means alone in his manner and friendliness within the Haskell community.
  - nv-vn 10y ago
    For the record, I don't think that the Haskell community is particularly bad. It's just something that I've heard plenty of times from people who have been exposed to the (tiny) bad parts of this community before learning the language that feel unwelcome (think the zealot-y types who reject any discussion as bad if it doesn't involve their favorite language (and this problem isn't unique to Haskell)).
    - lil1729 10y ago
      There are certain people in the community who are very opinionated. Some go one step ahead and abuse others who don't use their favourite language. For instance, see these two posts (comments). [1] https://web.archive.org/web/20150628010942/http://timkellogg.me/blog/2014/01/19/I-get-excited-about-go https://web.archive.org/web/20150628010942/http://timkellogg... [2] http://roseland.io/blog/2014/05/10/number-golang-the-next-great-teaching-language/#comment-1379154769 http://roseland.io/blog/2014/05/10/number-golang-the-next-gr... These comments are unfortunate. These two individuals, in no means represent the entire community. But such people are toxic for an otherwise great bunch of people like SPJ, Phil Wadler and other folks.
      - yokohummer7 10y ago
        The problem is that the brand new Haskell Programming book, which seems to be recommended nowadays among Haskellers, is being written by bitemyapp (the one described in the first link). He's been bitching other languages, especially Go. He even stated Haskell is simpler than Go, which just shows his twisted reality. It is very unfortunate that such a toxic person is influential to the community.

the_af 10y ago

Even if I didn't find Haskell or CS interesting (which I do), I'd still find Simon a nice, funny and engaging speaker. At least judging by the talks I could find online. Researchers, and especially computer-related researchers, sometimes sound arrogant. But in all of Simon's talks I could find, he sounds like a genuinely nice guy. And funny! He sure knows how to give a great talk.

eru 10y ago
He also knows how to ask exactly the right question after a talk, to give the speaker great insight into something that stumbled them.

nv-vn 10y ago

Haven't had the chance to meet him ever, but watching his talks or hearing about him from others, it seems like he really breaks the Haskell/functional programmer stereotypes of being a pretentious asshole or being unwelcoming to beginners. Wish people would pay more attention to some of the awesome people like SPJ rather than focusing on the vocal minority.

axman6 10y ago
#haskell on freenode has always had s reputation of being open, welcoming and helpful. Try not to mistake pretension for someone talking about something you don't yet understand, which is very often the case when someone is accused of being an pretentious arsehole. Simon is by no means alone in his manner and friendliness within the Haskell community.
- nv-vn 10y ago
  For the record, I don't think that the Haskell community is particularly bad. It's just something that I've heard plenty of times from people who have been exposed to the (tiny) bad parts of this community before learning the language that feel unwelcome (think the zealot-y types who reject any discussion as bad if it doesn't involve their favorite language (and this problem isn't unique to Haskell)).
  - lil1729 10y ago
    There are certain people in the community who are very opinionated. Some go one step ahead and abuse others who don't use their favourite language. For instance, see these two posts (comments). [1] https://web.archive.org/web/20150628010942/http://timkellogg.me/blog/2014/01/19/I-get-excited-about-go https://web.archive.org/web/20150628010942/http://timkellogg... [2] http://roseland.io/blog/2014/05/10/number-golang-the-next-great-teaching-language/#comment-1379154769 http://roseland.io/blog/2014/05/10/number-golang-the-next-gr... These comments are unfortunate. These two individuals, in no means represent the entire community. But such people are toxic for an otherwise great bunch of people like SPJ, Phil Wadler and other folks.
    - yokohummer7 10y ago
      The problem is that the brand new Haskell Programming book, which seems to be recommended nowadays among Haskellers, is being written by bitemyapp (the one described in the first link). He's been bitching other languages, especially Go. He even stated Haskell is simpler than Go, which just shows his twisted reality. It is very unfortunate that such a toxic person is influential to the community.