The best conference talks, according to hackers
15 conference talks recommended in Hacker News comments over the past year, ranked by how many separate people recommend each one.
All conference talks
- Simple Made Easy by Rich HickeyPeople recommend this talk for clarifying the difference between simple and easy and for changing how they think about software design. One critic says readers often wrongly treat simple and easy as the same idea.22recommend
- The Birth and Death of JavaScript by Gary BernhardtA widely rewatched tech talk on JavaScript's history, praised for its delivery and for predictions people say still hold. Some critics say several predictions were wrong.11recommend
- Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs Video LecturesPeople recommend these MIT lectures by Sussman and Abelson for clearly explaining core programming ideas like abstraction, state and mutability, and they say the lectures work well alongside the book.11recommend
- Wat by Gary BernhardtA short, funny talk poking fun at JavaScript quirks, still a favorite years later. Critics say a few of its points are mistaken.9recommend
- Porting Linux to Apple Silicon by Asahi LinuxRecommended as a well-done conference talk on the technical challenges of porting Linux to Apple Silicon, including M4 and M5 chips. Caveat: the video switches between camera views too often.8recommend
- Hammock Driven Development by Rich HickeyPeople recommend this Rich Hickey talk for its argument that breakthroughs on hard problems come from unconscious thinking, and call it a great, watchworthy talk.7recommend
- F*ck You, Pay Me talk by Mike MonteiroRecommended as an evergreen, funny talk on getting paid as a designer or freelancer. A mixed take notes that it addresses the emotional side while the structural payment problem remains.7recommend
- Cory Doctorow's 39C3 talk on enshittificationPeople recommend it as a strong, accessible introduction to enshittification, the decline of platforms over time, from Doctorow's 39C3 talk.7recommend
- The Root of the Root of All Evil by Casey MuratoriRecommended as a detailed, insightful talk on software complexity that rewards the three-hour time investment. Critics say it offers nothing new and is a little fluffy.7recommend
- Children of the Magenta LinePeople recommend this lecture and article for explaining how pilots who depend on automation can push aircraft closer to the edge of the flight envelope.6recommend
- Preventing the Collapse of Civilization by Jonathan BlowCommenters recommend this 2019 Jonathan Blow talk on software engineering as one of their favorites, saying its points remain relevant today.6recommend
- Inventing on Principle by Bret VictorPeople recommend this talk as a mind-blowing demo of non-chat interfaces for building software and as a formative way to think about programming. No recurring complaints appear in the quotes.5recommend
- Practical Data-Oriented Design by Andrew KelleyPeople recommend this talk by Andrew Kelley, the Zig lead developer, as a practical introduction to data-oriented design and worth watching.5recommend
- Don't Talk to the Police by James DuanePeople recommend it as a clear guide to what to do when police want to talk to you. Its caveat is that it covers only police questioning, not other situations.5recommend
- Statistics for Hackers by Jake VanderPlasPeople recommend this talk for explaining hard statistics terms and formulas through simple loops and basic operations.5recommend