SPA2005 session: Searching for Beauty in Code

One-line description:We set out together to investigate beauty in code and report our findings.
 
Session format: Workshop [read about the different session types]
 
Abstract:Is it too pretentious to talk about beauty in code?

Is there something that distinguishes beautiful code from the rest - Simplicity? Patterns? The Quality Without a Name? Truth? Where the curly brackets go? Is beauty in the eye of the beholder? Perhaps beauty in code is irrelevant - as long as it fulfils its function. We set out to investigate in this workshop.

In the first half we look at beauty in the abstract. Where do we find beauty, and what do we find beautiful?

The second half is devoted to beauty in code. Can we agree on what is beautiful here? We will form groups based on our beliefs, and set out manifestos, outlining our principles and the policies we propose to support them.
 
Audience background:Requires a general background in programming and a reflective nature.
 
Benefits of participating:The session should help you:
* appreciate beauty
* question the code that you read and write
* lose weight

 
Materials provided:Presentation.
Code samples.
Pointers to resources.
 
Process:00:00 - 00:05 General filtering in, presenter introductions etc
00:05 - 00:10 Background to the workshop
00:10 - 00:20 Collecting aspects of beauty - people call them out, we write them up
00:20 - 00:40 Groups define beauty - expanding on aspects
00:40 - 00:50 Discussion of definitions
00:50 - 01:10 Presentation "Beauty"
01:10 - 01:15 Wrap up first half

Break

00:00 - 00:05 Recap
00:05 - 00:20 Aspects of code beauty - in groups
00:20 - 00:30 Clustering aspects, grouping people
00:30 - 00:50 Making group manifestos (posters)
00:50 - 01:10 Presentation of manifestos
01:10 - 01:15 Wrap up
 
Outputs:Posters of group manifestos.
Manifestos published on website.
 
History:Virgin
 
Presenters
1. Duncan McGregor
Independent		 2. Gareth Sylvester-Bradley
Sony		 3.