I've been writing Elixir for over 10 years, and have consistently seen teams deliver software to a higher degree of quality, at a higher rate of speed, and at significantly lower cost to build and to operate than with any other toolchain. Elixir is still a "niche" language, and lacks the centralized corporate backing that many other ecosystems have. Without the same community mass and financial backing, how is it possible for Elixir to be so productive and effective? As a framework author, I often deal with high level abstractions and business logic. In this talk, however, we will peel back the covers to illustrate the small design choices underpinning the Elixir programming language that manifest in exponentially more efficient and understandable applications. Together, we will see how the core design choices in any system are multiplied and magnified when we build on top of them. Most importantly, we will come to understand the fundamental reason that Elixir manages to be so productive and effective: We aren't building on sand. About Zach Daniel - Greensboro, NC Principal Platform Engineer at Alembic, Board Member at Erlang Ecosystem Foundation, Creator of Ash Framework Social - https://x.com/ZachSDaniel1 - https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachdaniel/ - https://github.com/zachdaniel - YouTube @ashframework - https://genserver.social/zachdaniel - https://zachdaniel.dev/ - https://ash-hq.org/ - https://sessionize.com/zach-daniel Zach is a software engineer with ten years of experience with production Elixir applications. He is the creator of Ash Framework, a resource-oriented declarative design framework for Elixir, and principal platform engineer at Alembic. He has a passion for declarative design, functional programming, and contributing to the open source community. When not programming, he enjoys spending time with his wonderful wife, pets, friends and family. Presented on August 16, 2025 at the Carolina Code Conference in Greenville, SC https://carolina.codes Sponsored by... Flywheel - https://www.flywheelgreenvillesc.com/ Vonage - https://developer.vonage.com/en/home Simply Binary - https://www.simplybinary.com/ Organized by Brightball, Inc - https://www.brightball.com/

This talk is an exploration of how F#s new Firefly compiler, part of the Fidelity Framework, creates a seamless bridge between high-performance computing and formal verification. Discover how Firefly's direct MLIR/LLVM compilation unlocks native efficiency while F* verification ensures mathematical correctness. Get a glimpse into how this groundbreaking open core initiative enables targeting verifiable AI systems to CPU, GPU and other accelerators "on the metal" - all while maintaining F#'s tooling vaunted reputation for providing guardrails to support developer productivity. About Houston Haynes - Asheville, NC Founder of SpeakEZ.ai - former F# Software Foundation Board of Trustees Socials - https://www.linkedin.com/company/speakez-llc - https://speakez.ai/ Houston's career started when his university research advisor Bob Moog was leaving academia and restarting his business. That eventually led to the revival of Moog Music as an international brand. He has since worked in industries ranging from entertainment to automotive, where hardware-driven process automation, software-based decision support and related intelligent devices were always part of the picture. He founded SpeakEZ in 2020 in response to the corporate surveillance proliferating in cloud services and continues his work designing security and privacy-minded intelligent services for organizations of all sizes. Presented on August 15, 2025 at the Carolina Code Conference in Greenville, SC https://carolina.codes Sponsored by... Flywheel - https://www.flywheelgreenvillesc.com/ Vonage - https://developer.vonage.com/en/home Times 20 Consulting - https://x20.io/ Organized by Brightball, Inc - https://www.brightball.com/

The AI train is moving in one direction: forward. Depending on who you are, this might excite you or frighten you. You might believe that under the hood it's harmlessly executing instructions, or you might fear it has latent potential for world destruction. Regardless of where you stand, you're both right and wrong - because at this moment, *no one truly knows* precisely what's happening inside these massive models. But we're entering an exciting era. Recently, significant progress has been made in mechanistic interpretability - the technical term for peeking inside AI’s "black box." We're discovering that we *can* understand more about an AI model's thought processes than we ever believed possible. This is crucial, because while we can't slow down the AI train, we can catch up to it. If we can observe its thinking, we can identify problematic patterns before they cause actual harm - and even directly modify them. About Kevin Ferretti - Asheville, NC Technical Development Lead, also other things Socials - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-ferretti/ Kevin went to college for biomedical engineering and quickly figured out that the only fun part of it was the software stuff, so he ditched the blood and guts and dove head first into the tech industry. Any chance he gets to deep dive into a new technology and share that knowledge with like minded people is a blessing. Software is cool but can be a lot sometimes, so to balance things out Kevin does some birding, photography, and dancing. Presented on August 16, 2025 at the Carolina Code Conference in Greenville, SC https://carolina.codes Sponsored by... Vonage - https://developer.vonage.com/en/home Flywheel - https://www.flywheelgreenvillesc.com/ Blue Ridge Consultants - https://www.blueridge.cx/ Organized by Brightball, Inc - https://www.brightball.com/

Do you miss the "good old days" of DOS and QuickBasic? Perhaps you've only heard of these ancient technologies. They are still around - here and there. One niche community keeping QuickBasic code going is QB64. It can compile to Windows, Linux, and macOS. In this talk Dave will give you a quick introduction to QB64 and why you might want to give it a spin. https://babyprogrammer.com/basic-languages/qb64/ About David Mackey - Augusta, GA Software Engineer / Owner, Eccentric Quality Solutions LLC Socials - https://www.linkedin.com/in/davemackey/ - https://davemackey.net/ - https://eccentricquality.com/ - https://sessionize.com/dave-mackey David Mackey is the founder of Eccentric Quality Solutions, a custom software development company. Dave has experience working with a number of industries over 25+ years including healthcare, higher education, non-profits, legal, social networks, and construction. He currently works primarily with Python and TypeScript but also has experience in PHP, C#/VB .NET, and vanilla JavaScript. HTML is his good friend while CSS is something he works with - but isn't happy about it. Presented on August 16, 2025 at the Carolina Code Conference in Greenville, SC https://carolina.codes Sponsored by... Vonage - https://developer.vonage.com/en/home Flywheel - https://www.flywheelgreenvillesc.com/ Blue Ridge Consultants - https://www.blueridge.cx/ Organized by Brightball, Inc - https://www.brightball.com/

Software in the EV space is a super wide topic. There's OCPP, which allows us to control chargers. OCPI, which allows us to publish available public chargers on various networks. ISO-15118, which gets more nitty-gritty and allows us to receive data from both chargers and vehicles. And a ton more - it's a world of acronyms and standards and protocols, but at the end of the day, we have node apps in kubernetes clusters controlling distributed physical hardware (the chargers). We're solving some interesting problems - EV charger comms go over cell networks, so there's connectivity problems built right in. Chargers hold onto data while offline, but that amount of data varies and runtime decisions have to be made when a charger comes back online. I could probably talk for days about the whole problem space, but a high-level primer may make more sense for this talk. My teams specifically build software that manage the flow of energy to electric vehicles. We have fleets of thousands of chargers across the globe, which we maintain direct websocket connections to and control via a protocol called OCPP. Last year, we also launched the first OEM public charging network (Ford Charge Network), which allows the general public to charge their EVs at various locations across the US and Canada. There are a ton of other features we've built - power company integrations to help charge cheaply, complex authorization logic to determine whether a vehicle should be able to charge at a specific charger, EV route planning to ensure the vehicle receives enough energy before departure, provisioning systems for tracking the physical charger's lifecycle from manufacturing to installation to eventual decommissioning. Faults and error states, ton of reporting (built on kafka with the event-sourcing paradigm). I'm excited to talk about the EV charging ecosystem and the role software plays in that - chargers talk to vehicles, chargers and vehicles talk to our central systems, our systems talk to utilities, payment providers, public charging networks, etc. and all this is enabled by software. About Jake Hendley - Greenville, SC Senior Director of Engineering @ Ford Pro Socials - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-hendley-ab685151/ - http://jakehendley.com/ - https://www.fordpro.com/en-us/charging/ A bit about me - I'm a Greenville native and spent years working out of Openworks and arranging as many happy hours as possible. Over the last 4 years, I've gone from the first US engineering hire at a small startup in the bay area to leading an engineering org at Ford Motor Company. That small bay area startup was acquired by Ford in 2021, and we've been building cool stuff ever since. Presented on August 16, 2025 at the Carolina Code Conference in Greenville, SC https://carolina.codes Sponsored by... Vonage - https://developer.vonage.com/en/home Flywheel - https://www.flywheelgreenvillesc.com/ Times 20 Consulting - https://x20.io/ Organized by Brightball, Inc - https://www.brightball.com/

Many developers claim they’re "bad at math," yet mathematical thinking is embedded in everything they do. From loops mirroring sigma notation to optimizing search algorithms through factorization, number sense - the intuitive grasp of patterns, estimation, and numerical relationships - shapes how we perform our jobs. From how we approach a challenge, think through an issue, or write efficient code. Math in programming goes even deeper than that. Can computers generate true randomness, or is it all just clever illusion? Why does 0.1 + 0.2 ≠ 0.3, and how did floating-point errors lead to multimillion-dollar failures? In this talk, we’ll explore how embracing number sense helps developers troubleshoot bugs, write more scalable code, and unlock a deeper understanding of computation. Math isn’t just for theory, it’s a secret weapon every programmer can wield. About Sarah Matta - Augusta, GA Thinking beyond the obvious, solving beyond the expected Socials - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-matta/ - https://www.helloiamprogrammer.com/ - https://sessionize.com/sarah-matta Sarah has a gift for spotting what most people miss. Whether it's a gap in a process, an unspoken tension in a team, or a hidden opportunity, she has a way of bringing the invisible into the light - and helping others see it clearly, too. Doing the right thing isn’t just a principle for Sarah; it’s a practice. She brings a strong sense of integrity to everything she does, and she doesn’t shy away from tough decisions when they’re the right ones. With a solid background in software development, plus real-world skills in project and organizational management, Sarah knows how to get things done without losing sight of the people behind the work. She’s equally comfortable diving into code or untangling a team’s workflow - and she brings her full self to both. She also gives her time generously, volunteering to support causes and communities she cares about. Thoughtful, reliable, and just the right amount of curious, Sarah brings clarity, heart, and momentum wherever she goes. Presented on August 15, 2025 at the Carolina Code Conference in Greenville, SC https://carolina.codes Sponsored by... Vonage - https://developer.vonage.com/en/home Flywheel - https://www.flywheelgreenvillesc.com/ ThoroughCare - https://www.thoroughcare.net/ Organized by Brightball, Inc - https://www.brightball.com/

BASIC might be enjoyable for beginners to test the waters. Experienced coders find nostalgia and opportunity in it. Some find coding in BASIC soothing, a comfortable escape from the real world. #BASIC #coding #nostalgia #careers #programming

Discover how MDishkins earns money working with huge files, converting and merging SEPA and SWIFT payment batches for major financial companies. It's significant work in the financial industry. #SEPA #SWIFT #payments #fileconversion #financialindustry

The speaker revisits QB64 and its appeal for coders with short attention spans. In 2022, Steve McNeil launched QB64 Phoenix Edition, the go-to version for current work, reuniting many original contributors. #QB64 #Coding #PhoenixEdition #SteveMcNeil

Explore QB64's capabilities with Space Shooter 2000 and QuB. Discover how developers push limits and create impressive web and desktop apps using GX Game Engine. Dive into the world of retro game development! #QB64 #retroGaming #gameDev #indieGames #GXGameEngine

Before making any deals with security, the development team must be ready to take ownership of product security. An automated test suite is the prerequisite. Ephemeral build technology lets teams move fast. #devteam #security #automation #testing

What makes a good dev-centric AppSec tool? Speed is critical; aim for under 5 minutes. False positives erode trust, while false negatives are a problem too. Runtime security tools can offer rapid feedback. #AppSec #security #OWASP #Snyk #ContrastAssess

When the Log4Shell attack hit, teams scrambled. Older Log4j versions needed manual workarounds. What if a bot could try upgrades and run tests? Teams with test suites stay up-to-date, owning their security. #Log4Shell #security #cybersecurity #Dependabot #vulnerability

DevSecOps should empower engineering teams to own product security. It's about adopting DevOps principles—flow, feedback, and experimentation—while prioritizing shipping product and delivering customer value. Sometimes, market share trumps security risks. #DevSecOps #security #engineering #DevOps

See how combining lexical keyword matching with vector search gives you the best of both worlds. Match specific keywords like product names while also getting conceptual mapping. #keywordmatching #vectorsearch #AI #searchalgorithms

Semantic search moves beyond simple text matching. It's about understanding the relationship between user queries, content, and the domain it exists within, ensuring more relevant search results. #semanticsearch #SEO #contentstrategy #userintent

AI-powered search understands user intent by analyzing the meaning behind search terms. By classifying the query type and finding related terms, the search engine can rank documents that have a cluster of meaning, leading to more relevant search results. #AISearch #QueryIntent #NLP #MachineLearning

By using vector math, one can combine a DeLorean image with the text query for superhero to generate an embedding. Averaging these embeddings together then allows a search to find a superhero on top of a sporty car with cool lights. #vectormath #image #superhero #DeLorean #embedding

Discover how OCaml's influence, along with the Fable compiler, has revitalized F#. Async's role and its spread through different programming language tiers are also explored. Check the 'History of Programming Languages' paper for more. #OCaml #FSharp #FableCompiler #Async #ProgrammingLanguages

F# and C# have shared edges and deep integration for 20 years. Users benefit from doing things within a strongly typed API. Policy choices are defined as an enumeration inside of the React app as well as in the backend. #FSharp #CSharp #React #API #Integration

F# and F*—cousins in code. Their influences, overlaps, and effects on language and tech get dissected. See how they've shaped async, reactive models, and even security protocols. A fast-paced look at the deal between them. #FSharp #FStar #programming #ocaml

LLVM boasts significant industry and community support. It’s older than .NET, with backing and resources. LLVM offers versatility across platforms, empowering developers while requiring careful memory management. #LLVM #dotNET #compiler #technology #programming

LeafPHP is outperforming Laravel and Slim in key performance metrics. Discover the first-party modules, from billing to Redis, that allow effortless customization. Plug and play functionality is now a reality for PHP applications. #LeafPHP #Laravel #Slim #PHP #Framework #Coding

Laravel is seen as a full-stack framework taken to the extreme. Despite its initial success, modern development trends reveal a shift. Simplicity and ease of use are key, but is Laravel's complexity hindering its progress? #Laravel #PHP #webdev #framework #coding

PHP faces lots of criticism, but it continues to survive and thrive. Many frameworks have come and gone, but PHP is still around. This video explains why PHP might actually be the right choice for modern web development. #PHP #webdevelopment #programming #technology