Tomas Petricek
@tomasp.net
Assistant prof at @mff.unikarlova.cuni.cz. Interested in new ways of thinking about programming and history & philosophy of computing. Previously at University of Kent and @cst.cam.ac.uk.
That sounds like a very interesting (and difficult!) debate - I'd be very curious to hear about the different views (I guess a more mathematical vs. a more engineering view is a basic issue all CS programs face..)
January 11, 2026 at 1:11 AM
That sounds like a very interesting (and difficult!) debate - I'd be very curious to hear about the different views (I guess a more mathematical vs. a more engineering view is a basic issue all CS programs face..)
(You correctly say "addition" and I do not disagree that these can be useful tools. That said...)
I wouldn't call the process of getting students to get a good score on a final test "education".
I wouldn't call the process of getting students to get a good score on a final test "education".
January 10, 2026 at 2:24 AM
(You correctly say "addition" and I do not disagree that these can be useful tools. That said...)
I wouldn't call the process of getting students to get a good score on a final test "education".
I wouldn't call the process of getting students to get a good score on a final test "education".
The bookshop is a special place! I got a copy of Concepts in Programming Languages there while visiting during my undergraduate studies, which got me interested in languages...
It's so nice to be on the other side of the shelf, so to say!
It's so nice to be on the other side of the shelf, so to say!
January 9, 2026 at 9:06 PM
The bookshop is a special place! I got a copy of Concepts in Programming Languages there while visiting during my undergraduate studies, which got me interested in languages...
It's so nice to be on the other side of the shelf, so to say!
It's so nice to be on the other side of the shelf, so to say!
It's on history of programming!
I'm all for organizing a signing (and/or a talk!) when I manage to come back to Cambridge (which definitely needs to happen soon).
www.cambridge.org/core/books/c...
I'm all for organizing a signing (and/or a talk!) when I manage to come back to Cambridge (which definitely needs to happen soon).
www.cambridge.org/core/books/c...
Cultures of Programming
Cambridge Core - Philosophy of Science - Cultures of Programming
www.cambridge.org
January 9, 2026 at 9:00 PM
It's on history of programming!
I'm all for organizing a signing (and/or a talk!) when I manage to come back to Cambridge (which definitely needs to happen soon).
www.cambridge.org/core/books/c...
I'm all for organizing a signing (and/or a talk!) when I manage to come back to Cambridge (which definitely needs to happen soon).
www.cambridge.org/core/books/c...
"IT people" is a somewhat non-existent concept here...
But I could probably run it on a server somewhere in our building. The issue seems to be that they don't like hosting stuff on external domains (fair enough, I guess, but a bit unfortunate). Changing the URL may be a way to go though...
But I could probably run it on a server somewhere in our building. The issue seems to be that they don't like hosting stuff on external domains (fair enough, I guess, but a bit unfortunate). Changing the URL may be a way to go though...
December 16, 2025 at 9:13 PM
"IT people" is a somewhat non-existent concept here...
But I could probably run it on a server somewhere in our building. The issue seems to be that they don't like hosting stuff on external domains (fair enough, I guess, but a bit unfortunate). Changing the URL may be a way to go though...
But I could probably run it on a server somewhere in our building. The issue seems to be that they don't like hosting stuff on external domains (fair enough, I guess, but a bit unfortunate). Changing the URL may be a way to go though...
The front end is hosted on GitHub pages, which works fine. It's the back end. Running it in some old windows VM could do. I could probably manage an update to net90 on Linux in a container (except for some older demos I may be ok to sacrifice)
December 16, 2025 at 2:45 AM
The front end is hosted on GitHub pages, which works fine. It's the back end. Running it in some old windows VM could do. I could probably manage an update to net90 on Linux in a container (except for some older demos I may be ok to sacrifice)
It's all just research projects like The Gamma (e.g. gallery.thegamma.net/85/if-phelps...).
I want to be able to demo this when talking to people, but nobody aside from me ever uses it. I want to have it somewhere where it can stay without any maintenance basically forever :)
I want to be able to demo this when talking to people, but nobody aside from me ever uses it. I want to have it somewhere where it can stay without any maintenance basically forever :)
December 15, 2025 at 11:36 PM
It's all just research projects like The Gamma (e.g. gallery.thegamma.net/85/if-phelps...).
I want to be able to demo this when talking to people, but nobody aside from me ever uses it. I want to have it somewhere where it can stay without any maintenance basically forever :)
I want to be able to demo this when talking to people, but nobody aside from me ever uses it. I want to have it somewhere where it can stay without any maintenance basically forever :)
This idea sounds reminiscent of the Alternate Reality Kit project from the 80s: www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9LZ...
Alternate Reality Kit by Randall Smith at Xerox PARC 1986 (VPRI-0131)
YouTube video by Yoshiki Ohshima (大島芳樹)
www.youtube.com
December 15, 2025 at 1:22 AM
This idea sounds reminiscent of the Alternate Reality Kit project from the 80s: www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9LZ...
And the results will be announced by either white or black smoke. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conclave
Conclave - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
December 13, 2025 at 1:36 PM
And the results will be announced by either white or black smoke. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conclave
Related to PROGRAMme (how did you find that!?) there are some papers from HaPoC conferences hapoc.org/hapoc-public...
I don't think there's an answer to your question, but useful perspectives may be hiding there. (And PROGRAMme's position is that seeking an answer is more valuable than having one.)
I don't think there's an answer to your question, but useful perspectives may be hiding there. (And PROGRAMme's position is that seeking an answer is more valuable than having one.)
HaPoC Publications – Commission for the History and Philosophy of Computing
hapoc.org
December 10, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Related to PROGRAMme (how did you find that!?) there are some papers from HaPoC conferences hapoc.org/hapoc-public...
I don't think there's an answer to your question, but useful perspectives may be hiding there. (And PROGRAMme's position is that seeking an answer is more valuable than having one.)
I don't think there's an answer to your question, but useful perspectives may be hiding there. (And PROGRAMme's position is that seeking an answer is more valuable than having one.)
People talking past each other is literaly the inspiration behind the book! This is the very first paragraph of the book's preface :-)
December 9, 2025 at 9:16 PM
People talking past each other is literaly the inspiration behind the book! This is the very first paragraph of the book's preface :-)
In the book, it's:
Mathematical culture, hacker culture, engineering culture, managerial culture and humanistic culture
It's of course an abstraction over more complex reality, but I believe a fitting one!
Mathematical culture, hacker culture, engineering culture, managerial culture and humanistic culture
It's of course an abstraction over more complex reality, but I believe a fitting one!
December 9, 2025 at 8:34 PM
In the book, it's:
Mathematical culture, hacker culture, engineering culture, managerial culture and humanistic culture
It's of course an abstraction over more complex reality, but I believe a fitting one!
Mathematical culture, hacker culture, engineering culture, managerial culture and humanistic culture
It's of course an abstraction over more complex reality, but I believe a fitting one!
The page is confusing, but it's not there yet. The online version should be up sometime soon and the printed copy can be pre-ordered from Amazon, but apparently not the publisher yet...
December 9, 2025 at 8:32 PM
The page is confusing, but it's not there yet. The online version should be up sometime soon and the printed copy can be pre-ordered from Amazon, but apparently not the publisher yet...
And as always, the best way to understand what TinyExcel is is to look at the #fsharp data types describing the domain model.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p9R...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p9R...
TinyExcel 7.3 - Code structure and step-by-step guide
YouTube video by Tomas Petricek
www.youtube.com
December 8, 2025 at 10:39 PM
And as always, the best way to understand what TinyExcel is is to look at the #fsharp data types describing the domain model.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p9R...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p9R...
We use event-based architecture using the first-class #fsharp events to propagate updates in the spreadsheet.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV5S...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV5S...
TinyExcel 7.2 - Architecture and F# events
YouTube video by Tomas Petricek
www.youtube.com
December 8, 2025 at 10:39 PM
We use event-based architecture using the first-class #fsharp events to propagate updates in the spreadsheet.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV5S...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV5S...
Code structure and step-by-step guide (where I mainly try to explain how even an activation record can be an object): www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRLp...
TinySelf 6.4 - Code structure and step-by-step guide
YouTube video by Tomas Petricek
www.youtube.com
December 2, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Code structure and step-by-step guide (where I mainly try to explain how even an activation record can be an object): www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRLp...
Working with mutable data in F# (because we do actually need some mutation this time!) www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSCb...
TinySelf 6.3 - Working with mutable data in F#
YouTube video by Tomas Petricek
www.youtube.com
December 2, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Working with mutable data in F# (because we do actually need some mutation this time!) www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSCb...
Using the Self programming system (in which I actually manage to demo Self with my middle-button-capable mouse): www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Lge...
TinySelf 6.2 - Using the Self programming system
YouTube video by Tomas Petricek
www.youtube.com
December 2, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Using the Self programming system (in which I actually manage to demo Self with my middle-button-capable mouse): www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Lge...