6 impossible things - Kevlin Henney - Opening Keynote Meeting C++ 2023

Kevlin Henney giving the opening keynote at Meeting C++ 2023: 6 impossible things

"Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast", the Queen told Alice on her adventures through the looking glass. Only six? In software development we believe impossible things all the time, no matter the time of day! In this talk, however, we are going to take a look at six specific impossible things that shape the limits of what we can develop, all the way from the smallest detail of integer representation to the minefield of task estimation and prioritisation, via the uncertainty of distributed systems and the limits of computability. Once we know our limits, we can work within them to create solutions rather than problems.

[culturedgator]

Spectacular talk. Spectacular. This must be an intro to every course related to software systems, including business system analysis. It's spectacularly valuable.

[briansalehi]

One of the representations you can't take your eyes off the screen for a moment.

[edgeeffect]

Kevlin is a terrible fiend for re-using his old material... but I don't care. It's so entertaining and thought provoking, I'll watch one of his old talks again anyway.

[varshneydevansh]

This the first talk since 2013 where I am making notes ❤❤

[alcarsharif]

Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass are mendatory literature for every Software Developer.

[JosV]

I like to say "Time is an input"

[mrudo]

Some parts remind me of a a old Damian Conway presentation in a good way

[toncikokan]

Tehnically, "probability zero" doesn't imply "impossible".