August 17, 2021 by Jamie Hewland

Talk Summary: Asynchronous programming can help scale web services to thousands of simultaneous users while avoiding much of the complexity of multi-threaded code. Async code brings its own challenges, but a number of developments in the Python language and open-source ecosystem mean that building async web services and clients is now easier than ever.

In this talk, we'll look at how the Python ecosystem around asynchronous programming has evolved over time, some of the latest tools, and where development may be headed in the future.

Speaker: Jamie Hewland

Jamie is a software engineer on the Streaming Platform team where he helps build and run the streaming data infrastructure that powers many Yelp features. Before Yelp, Jamie worked as an SRE and backend engineer for around five years in his home country of South Africa. He has given talks at PyConZA, ScaleConf, and KubeCon. Having moved to London earlier this year, you’ll often find him running or cycling along Regent’s Canal or tending to his growing collection of house plants.

Speaker: Maoreen Rose Malibiran

Maoreen was brought on board at Yelp as a technical sourcer in 2021. She is also an active member of the Yelp employee resource group Awesome Women in Engineering (AWE) and co-leads the AWE Reads program, which creates a safe space for bookworms. Prior to Yelp, she spent three years working in the tech industry focused on building teams and quality connections. Maoreen moved to Canada from the Manila area in 2017 after receiving her degree in psychology from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. Her passion and expertise are in the ever-evolving technology industry with a strong focus on creating diverse and inclusive teams of innovators in Canada. She believes in the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in creating an authentic work environment. Outside of work, Maoreen enjoys a good Netflix binge but can also be found on long hikes and bike rides across Ontario.

About Yelping From Home:

Yelp’s mission is to connect people with great local businesses, and two of the teams working behind the scenes to make that happen are our five star engineering and product teams.

Playing an active role in our community is a value that we have strongly prioritized over the years. Typically we would invite you to come to Yelp’s HQ to network, grab a slice of ‘za, and learn about the technology and culture behind Yelp. With stay-at-home orders across the globe, Yelp (like many of you) has had no choice but to adapt to these changes. We understand that this is a strange and challenging time for many, so we’d like to invite you to join us as we navigate this new normal for the tech community together.

To stay connected, create space for folks to collaborate and share some of the things Yelp has been working on, we are launching our very own virtual tech talk series. This series of talks will feature Yelpers from engineering and product and will focus on themes such as career development, technical skills, workplace challenges and Yelp’s response to COVID-19.