Clojure eXchange 2016

In less then a month time I am traveling to London for Clojure eXchange 2016. I am very excited about it! Not only because I was selected to give a talk on solving permutation puzzles, a topic that is very interesting to me. But mostly to be among peers, meet old friends and make new ones, to have interesting discussions and learn new things.

A permutation puzzle is a single player game that has the following properties. The game can be played by making a series of moves. For each state of the game the moves are the same, and the object is to find a sequence that reached the goal state. An example of a permutation puzzle is the Rubiks Cube. The cube that was immensely popular in the 80s, but still gathers up a crowd with regional-, national- and world-championship.

Learning how to solve a cube takes some devoting. One has to learn an algorithm that will tell you a sequence of moves to the goal. One can memorize an algorithm, but the problem is that it does not help you when you encounter a different permutation puzzle. Like the skewb or the megaminx. What I would like to talk about is a way to discover the algorithms for yourself. And how a computer and Clojure can help you in developing those algorithms.

But this is not why I am so excited on going to Clojure eXchange. The best thing about Clojure eXchange is meeting other people. People with similar interests, but different backgrounds, different ideas, different vantage points and different insights. It is in interactions with these people I learn new things. And I love learning.

So I hope to meet and greet you at the Clojure eXchange, because I love to learn from you.