Ever wonder what would happen if you happened upon Simon Peyton-Jones, author of the Glasgow Haskell Compiler (GHC) and a key contributor to the Haskell functional programming language, and John Hughes, fellow Haskellite, computer scientist, creator of QuickCheck, and author of the landmark paper, "Why Functional Programming Matters," sitting on a park bench, in the rain, right next to Sydney's iconic opera house? Well, let's find out, shall we?

Simon and John have been friends for many years and studied mathematics together at Trinity College Cambridge. What were they like as young men? As students? What was Simon's issue with wearing shoes, anyway? It's always wonderful to learn about the humans behind the software, the science. This is classic C9. Yes, it's raining on us as we converse, but the view is spectacular with Sydney's Opera House behind us. It's funny how wet we were by the end of this interview, but the rain was refreshing—just like the conversation.



Thank you, Simon and John, for the great conversation, for being so comfortable in the rain, and for taking the random questions in stride. You're true gentlemen. Keep pushing the envelope!

Happy holidays from Channel 9 wherever you are and whatever, if anything, you're celebrating!

The YOW! Developer Conference offers outstanding opportunities to learn more about the latest practices, technologies, and methodologies for building innovative software solutions as well as the chance to meet and network with international software experts and other talented developers in Australia. Thanks to Dave Thomas and the event's excellent staff—Mary Catherine (MC), Lisa, Aino, Melissa, and others—for inviting me to this excellent pure developer event and thanks to all of the speakers for letting me take some of their time to record conversations for Channel 9. If you live in Australia, or aren't too far away, or just like to travel (who doesn't?), then you need to go to this yearly event. It's outstanding. There are many great developers down under. That's for sure. The speakers are exceptional—Dave and team set a high bar!