so next week is the last full week in October! I'd love to get together with folks on a video call and talk about your feedback and impressions of Roc based on Roctoberfest - anyone have any interest in that?
ok, here's a when2meet so we can figure out when the best time is! https://www.when2meet.com/?17415857-F3g7t
okay, looks like the best time all around is ! Let's meet at https://meet.jit.si/roctoberfest-recap-feedback - all are welcome!
cc @Anton @Georges Boris @Ghislain @Brendan Hansknecht
I won't be able to attend at that time, so I will share some thoughts from my experience so far.
I feel very confident that as the toolset matures, Roc will reach it's Fast, Friendly, and Functional goals. :star_struck:
I think Roctoberfest was a great way to start using Roc. I enjoyed seeing other people's code which helped to learn both the language, and new methods to solve problems using FP. This has me thinking it would be great to have some way of collecting Roc code so that it can be shared and discovered easily. I recall how much benefit I got from Elm Playground, and Ellie in the early days. I'm not suggesting this needs to be a priority for Roc right now; but definitely something I would be keen to assist with if there is plan or vision I could follow.
My experience writing Roc has been very similar to learning Elm for the first time. I have a lot of confidence when using expect
s to break down an algorithm and types to model my problem and functions. Compiler errors are excellent; I just need to get back into the habit of actually reading the error :thinking: .
The assistance from everyone here on Zulip has been excellent. :heart: I found some things needed documentation love. I've tried to help out here where I can.
I discovered a number of issues with the toolchain which has really slowed my progress getting through the AoC levels. :smiling_face_with_tear: I wasn't sure to what extent should I post all of the crashes/hangs I discovered. I opted for posting a few and rate limit the issues in the end, particularly when I was confident I knew what the issue was and could make a minimal example. Being completely new to Roc syntax I feel like I walked into a lot of edge cases.
I'm sure that with time, more people using Roc, and some love these issues will iron out nicely. The toolchain is complex and also evolving rapidly with new features. :big_smile:
I plan to continue writing Roc apps, and chipping away at AoC 2021, and probably give 2022 a go as well over the summer holidays. :tada: :holiday_tree: :beach: :ocean: :kangaroo:
Thanks for the feedback @Luke Boswell :)
Collecting roc code will also be useful for #4439.
for future reference, the issues in question: https://github.com/roc-lang/roc/issues/created_by/lukewilliamboswell
The roctoberfest feedback meeting starts in ~30 minutes
starting now at https://meet.jit.si/roctoberfest-recap-feedback !
Last updated: Jul 06 2025 at 12:14 UTC