UIs as Values

on YouTube ↗18m

" summary

Claim: UIs are immutable values and can be generated and diffed on the server, not just described as a topic. Implementation: Canvas.jl builds UI functions that produce a Julia-side virtual DOM diff+JSON patches sent to the browser; it uses Patchwork.jl and Gadfly for plots and composes with Lift signals to turn slider input into live plot updates (example: random-walk plot of 1,000 steps). Status: beta works with hot-swapping but patching sometimes needs refresh.

AI-written summary · about

" chapters (10)

1. 0:00Julia UI framework
2. 1:29UI as data function
3. 3:41Layouts and compositions
4. 4:23Adding interactive plots
5. 6:28Live coding demo
6. 8:44Dynamic UIs with signals
7. 11:19Efficient updates with virtual DOM
8. 12:46Values in UI design
9. 13:51Credits and inspirations
10. 14:32Q&A

" related talks

• 34mFunctional UIs and Unidirectional DataflowMikael Brevik · JSConf Budapest 2015
• 40mFunctional Client-Side ClojureScript UI Programming with WebfuiConrad Barski · Clojure/conj 2012
• 36mData Driven UIs, IncrementallyYaron Minsky · Strange Loop 2018
• 32mUI, Pure and SimpleChristian Johansen · reClojure 2025
• 32mElectric Clojure Differential Dataflow for UI (KEYNOTE)Dustin Getz · LambdaConf 2025
• 35mDeclarative UIs in a functional languageDamian Soriano · Lambda World 2025
• 34mServer Driven UIs: the future of cross-platform renderingSurbhi Madan · droidcon New York 2025
• 35mClojureScript & User Interfaces: Simplicity yields PossibilitiesJelle Akkerman · :clojureD 2015