A long while back, I mentioned that my wife, Jean, and I were looking at starting up a company. Well, we’ve done a lot of thinking about what the product should do and how this should be done. Because of other recent activities, I haven’t had a lot of time to execute on the idea. The fact of the matter is that we still like the underlying concept, but the implementation concept has morphed several times since we had the idea. The biggest changes are these:
F# is a functional .NET language. I’ve always been a fan of functional programming as it typically allows me to write my applications using fewer lines than what I would do in pure imperative mode. For better or worse, imperative languages are still center stage (and have been for decades). In order to pay the bills, it is easier to find work using C++/C#/Java than using LISP/Prolog/Scala. However, with F# (an OCaml based language), we have a chance of seeing functional programming go mainstream. I have a project in mind that needs a .NET language, so why not use the project as a means to really get into F#.
The second thing that happened is the beta release of Azure at the 2008 PDC. A big concern of mine has been hosting the set of servers that will eventually be needed if the web site idea takes off. Yes, I’m familiar with how to make sites scalable, how to buy a server, etc. I’m also familiar with the fact that more servers means more people I’d have to hire who may or may not have the chops to manage a large-ish web site. The cloud stuff is very appealing to me as it allows someone who worries only about managing servers do whatever that is. I can then focus on conserving space, writing better algorithms, and paying a smaller price to keep that service up and running (yeah, I’m assuming that, like other managed services, the cost of going to the cloud is less that the cost of personnel + equipment + power + licensing).
So, until I either lose interest or get so swamped with work/life/whatever, expect to see the blog focus on F# and Azure stuff. Right now, I’m a noob.
Karmic Code Monkey 