Author | Lightnews

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · Jun 22

Alaska was an amazing place to work, because during the summer you’re awake 20 hours a day, and during the winter it’s dark all the time, so you’re like, “I guess I’ll just stay in, make some coffee and fresh-baked cookies, and write a book.” :)

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Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · Jun 14

“It’s 420 miles south to Fairbanks, on a dirt road, I got a full tank of gas, it’s 4am, and I’m wearing sunglasses.” :)

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Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · May 30

I accidentally ran through a red light in Virginia Beach, and since I’m leaving soon, I thought it was best to just get it over with. So I called the police to turn myself in, but they wouldn't take me; I was not on their camera.

Okay, never mind. *These are not the droids you're looking for.* 😉

Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · May 24

I don’t watch many movies, but my nieces made me watch Bridesmaids, and that eventually led to seeing this favorite quote about finding meaning in work.

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Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · May 22

If you haven’t seen Kyo yet, the first ~20 minutes of this video is a nice introduction. 👍👍

For instance, you’ll learn what this syntax means:

val s: String < IO =
IO(readFile(filename))

There’s also a nice map/flatMap surprise in there as well! 👏

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIjt...

#scala

An Algebra of Thoughts: When Kyo effects meet LLMs by Flavio Brasil

YouTube video by Func Prog Sweden

www.youtube.com

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Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · May 20

My free Scala and Functional Programming video courses are now complete. We have 8 courses, totaling 266 videos, and since August, 2024, we have over 1,450 course registrations. 🥳

👉 www.learnscala.dev

#scala #functionalprogramming

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Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · May 16

One night in June or July — back when I lived in Palmer, Alaska — I went to Anchorage. This photo is from the drive back to Palmer ... at 3am.

You don’t really need your headlights on to see at this time, but you can put your lights on to help other drivers see you a little better.

#alaska

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Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · May 15

Warning: There will be no more warnings.

Life in #Alaska. :)

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Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · Apr 28

Woo-hoo, my final FREE video training course is now available:

“An Introduction to ZIO Kafka.” 🚀

This course features 14 short videos to help you get up and running with the ZIO Kafka library.

👉 www.learnscala.dev

#scala #functionalprogramming

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Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · Apr 14

I wrote a 1,400-word blog post titled “What The Heck Does flatMap Mean?”, but then I remembered that I don’t write anymore. :)

So instead of posting that, the extension method in this image might tell you what I had in mind, and it’s a lot shorter.

#scala #functionalprogramming

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Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · Apr 3

Could not agree more!

Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · Apr 3

What if you’re so outrageously incompetent you get it done in a matter of minutes?

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Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · Apr 1

“I’m tired, boss ... Mostly I’m tired of people being ugly to each other. I’m tired of all the pain I feel and hear in the world every day. There’s too much of it. It’s like pieces of glass in my head all the time. Can you understand?”

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Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · Mar 18

#Colorado sunsets are as pretty as you think they are. No filters required.

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Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · Mar 18

I slightly modified an example from the ZIO Streams website for my ZIO Streams course, and it ended up being one of the most fun and interesting examples I’ve ever worked with. Playing with the delay times and buffer sizes was a 😱🤯🤩 experience.

www.learnscala.dev

#scala

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Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · Mar 17

My “ZIO Streams” course is now up to 11 videos, including error handling, pipelines, and buffering! 🚀 And as always, it’s FREE:

👉 www.learnscala.dev

#scala #functionalprogramming

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Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · Mar 15

On this day in Colorado four years ago, we enjoyed 18” of snow.

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Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · Mar 8

If someone who was an enemy of the United States got in political power in the U.S., such as in the Manchurian Candidate, what types of things do you think they would do?

An A.I. answer:

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Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · Mar 7

I just added two more free ZIO Streams video lessons, and I’ll be adding more this weekend:

www.learnscala.dev

#scala #functionalprogramming

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Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · Mar 4

The next free video course is on ZIO Streams, and the first two videos are now available:

www.learnscala.dev

#scala #functionalprogramming

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Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · Mar 3

What? Another free video course? Coming soon? 🍿🥤

#scala

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Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · Feb 26

Over 200 FREE videos — no paywalls, no commercials — in six free Scala, Functional Programming, and ZIO training courses. And more coming soon ...

www.learnscala.dev

#scala #functionalprogramming

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Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · Feb 24

Yesterday I added a small-but-complete “ZIO HTTP, Database-Driven REST API Example” to my free videos.

I broke it into separate packages for configuration, model, repository/database, service, and API code so you can easily grow the example.

👉 www.learnscala.dev

#scala #functionalprogramming

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Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · Feb 23

Looking for a minimal yet fully functional ZIO HTTP + MySQL REST API example? This might be the smallest one in the known universe. 🚀

Includes ZIO HTTP, MySQL, a REST API handler, packaging to separate the concerns, logging, services, and ZLayers. All in just 16 minutes.

www.learnscala.dev

#scala

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Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · Feb 22

I’ve never written or created videos about Kyo because I didn’t really grok how to use it, so this video is a helpful step in that direction! 👍 #scala

Matej Cerny @matejcerny.bsky.social · Feb 21

You've probably heard of Kyo, but maybe you were too lazy to read all the documentation or try it out yourself (I know I was! 😀). Watch this live demo, as Kyo will soon reach version 1.0. #scala #kyo #algebraiceffectsystem https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA2_TWP5WF4

Kyo: A New Approach to Functional Effects in Scala with Flavio Brasil and Adam Hearn

www.youtube.com

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Alvin Alexander @alvinalexander.bsky.social · Feb 22

Every February I think, “I’m glad I’m not in Alaska right now,” and then every March I’m ready to move back. :)

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