Whatever your experience level, I'm willing to bet that you want to become a better engineer and problem-solver. You have probably already noticed that exploring unfamiliar technologies, patterns, algorithms and approaches helps you become better at your job, and sometimes even identify what job you want to be in. At this point you probably have a voice in your head saying that exploring, while fun and exciting, takes time. Perhaps you often tell yourself that you're too busy getting things done to indulge your curiosity.
I'm going to tell you the story of my personal confrontation with a dilemma facing every human being on earth: exploration vs. exploitation. I'll share with you the lessons I've learned about becoming a better explorer. I'll discuss how my usage of Scala and engineering mindset have changed as I have gone from developing large-scale production applications to conducting a series of experiments that test hypotheses. I hope you walk out of this talk with a renewed enthusiasm for exploration and a framework that you can use to decide when to explore and when to exploit.
