How to Discover the Binary System as a Child • Simon Peyton Jones & Chelsea Troy • GOTO 2025

Описание: This interview was recorded for GOTO Unscripted. #GOTOcon #GOTOunscripted
https://gotopia.tech

Read the full transcription of this interview here:
https://gotopia.tech/articles/394

Simon Peyton Jones - Key Contributor of Haskell & Engineering Fellow at Epic Games
Chelsea Troy - MLOps Tech Lead at Mozilla & Lecturer at University of Chicago ‪@HeyChelseaTroy‬

RESOURCES
Simon
https://simon.peytonjones.org
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_P...
  / simonpj0  
https://github.com/simonpj
  / simonpj  

Chelsea
https://chelseatroy.com
https://social.clawhammer.net/@HeyChe...
  / heychelseatroy  
  / chelseatroy  
https://github.com/chelseatroy

Links
https://www.haskell.org
https://www.barefootcomputing.org
https://www.computingatschool.org.uk
https://www.computingatschool.org.uk/...
https://www.computingatschool.org.uk/...
https://chelseatroy.com/2025/05/14/th...
https://computingeducation.org.uk
https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/why-...
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DESCRIPTION
Simon Peyton Jones – Royal Society member, Haskell language maintainer, and computing education advocate – discusses how a simple math problem about bank envelopes led him to discover the binary system 55 years ago, and why that moment of authentic problem-solving remains crucial for today's students. From his transition from Microsoft Research to founding Computing at School, Simon argues that computing education should be foundational rather than vocational, giving children agency in the digital world just as we teach them basic numeracy and science. He explores how to maintain the essence of computational thinking in an era where AI can instantly solve coding problems, emphasizing concrete, motivated contexts over abstract algorithms.

The discussion spans from elementary programming with Scratch and physical computing devices to his unique role as a computing fellow at Epic Games, where he works with CEO Tim Sweeney to design the Verse programming language, proving that even billion-dollar companies can prioritize denotational semantics over quarterly profits.

TIMECODES
00:00 Intro
01:08 The Binary System discovery: A teaching moment
05:45 Problem-solving in the age of AI
10:25 The journey into computing education
16:35 Functional programming & compiler design
20:41 Working as a computing fellow at Epic Games
23:40 Outro

RECOMMENDED BOOKS
Simon Peyton Jones • The Implementation of Functional Programming Languages • https://amzn.to/3HQE0Xn
Chelsea Troy • Remote Work Sucks • https://heychelseatroy.gumroad.com/l/...
Christopher Alexander • A Pattern Language • https://amzn.to/3Urefj3
Vitaly Bragilevsky • Haskell in Depth • https://amzn.to/3EXpmbe
Rebecca Skinner • Effective Haskell • https://amzn.to/3VgUKsh
Graham Hutton • Programming in Haskell • https://amzn.to/3Fi8rBC

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