Meet The Speaker: Kyle Simpson

As part of our preparations for YGLF 2019 Code Camp we're excited to share with you another interview, in the series of interviews, with this year's amazing speakers. Hear their stories and their professional insights. This time we're with Kyle Simpson (@getify)

Q: Tell us a bit about yourself

My name is Kyle Simpson, I've been a developer for almost three decades, since I was 11 years old when I got fascinated seeing my friend's Dad be able to make the computer print my name in the middle of the screen. I encountered my first JavaScript in 1998 and began specializing in it by 2004.

I've given well over 100 conference talks on JS, written 8 books about JS, and for the past 6.5 years I've been teaching JS in corporate workshops and conference settings.

Q: Who is your favourite tech thought leader and why?

One of my favorite speakers and authors is Jeremy Keith (@adactio). He's so level headed but so passionate about what's good for the web. Nearly every blog post he's ever written, I've found myself nodding along the whole thing.

Q: What advice would you give yourself at the outset of your career?

Stop optimizing for how easily you can bounce from one job to the next, to get promotions, and instead optimize for how you can dig in and learn to succeed in the job you have.

Q: What will you teach us at YGLF Code Camp 2019?

I'll be teaching two workshops: "JavaScript: The Recent Parts" and "Functional-Light JavaScript". The "Recent Parts" workshop is all about the changes that have landed in JS over the last ~3 years since ES6. The "Functional" workshop is about core principles in FP but looked at in a pragmatic way and applied to existing JS programs.

Thank you, Kyle!

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