Literate Programming Workshop

Repair, after all, is a social activity.

During this session we will discuss the role of code as a tool for communicating methodology to human audiences. Through practices of Literate Programming and explanatory storytelling, we will explore the forms of the “repair manual” and the relationships we form with our functional possessions.

We will cover the history of manuals for home repair, and explore the boundaries of code documentation practices. Together we will work through an example piece of code, and develop a “Literate” manual that explains its theory of operation to the satisfaction of the class. We will then work in small groups to produce a collection of similar resources that use whatever literary or artistic methods best explain each of a collection of for compilation into an anthology.

If you’re interested in joining, please send an e-mail to info@varia.zone with the topic [literate programming]. Please bring at least one sample of working code (yours or someone else’s) for inclusion in our compendium. This could be code that you enjoy explaining to other people, or something you wish to explore and get to know better.

The literate programming tools we will demonstrate require a computer that can run Python 3, and the code or text editing tools of your choice. Feel free to bring artistic tools of your own that may help you tell the story of your chosen code, and we will help integrate your art into the resulting work. The goal of this workshop is to produce an anthology of documents that help future users maintain and repair their software.