Leslie Lamport: Thinking Above the Code

Why HN readers recommended it

HN points people to it as Lamport's own case for thinking and writing a spec before coding, and as an entry point to TLA+.

This is a summary from the source dataset, not an endorsement by Hacker News or the video creator.

Video & recommendation details

Creator / channel

Microsoft Research

Topic

formal specification

Format

talk

Level

intermediate

HN recommenders in dataset

5

HN mentions in dataset

12

Recommendation years in dataset

2015–2026

These counts and years describe the included Hacker News records; they are not YouTube views or the video’s publication date.

From the original HN conversations

Excerpts from the recorded comments. Follow each source for the full comment and surrounding discussion.

• I've invested a fair amount of time into learning TLA+, have bought Hillel Wayne's book (Practical TLA+), and found his stuff super valuable. However, if I could do it again, I would have started in the following order: - 1. Watch [VIDEO] - 2. Watch …

• Short answer: try starting with TLA+. I'm working on this. My colleague, who is mentoring me, is the one who's finishing his PhD in software engineering. It's his guidance that has helped me so I don't have a good answer for how to teach yourself …

• No. Have a look at this video. It's worth it. He's just saying that you should think before you code and that most specifications should be just a few sentences stating what you intend to do. Code as a blueprint is not the same. [VIDEO]