It’s been a few weeks since the conference and we've had time to reflect. This blog post is an inventory of the things learned so that we may remember them until next summer and the next Kings of Code. If I’m still in Amsterdam then, I’ll definitely attend.
What are the expectations?
I can only speak for myself and I attend this kind of events to learn about new technologies, go deeper into current ones and hear thoughts and opinions from the front-line of our industry. Besides all that’and by far the biggest reason for attending’is the inspiration one gets from being in the same room as so many other passionate people, listening to talented speakers talk about what they love; in this case, web development.
Which leads us to the first speaker of the conference day.
Remember the Magick
Aral Balkan
If I recall correctly, Aral is living in the UK but speaking with an American accent (this puzzles me). He’s also one of the most talented speakers I’ve listened to. The intro song really grabbed people’s attention and set the mood for the remaining hour. The title was ???????Remember the Magick??????? and I believe that at the essence of the talk was the question; why do we do what we do?
Aral used a word that was a spot on perfect answer; delight. At least for me, creating delightful experiences is the most rewarding aspect of our job. Making users smile or feel even a resemblance of a delightful sensation gives a satisfaction no salary could.
The talk made us remember the magic that brought us to where we are right now. Aral, if you’re reading this, thanks for a great and inspirational speech that motivates us to keep going where our heart tells us to go. I also love the advice you gave afterwards’to a person questioning a current job situation’which was simply to ???????quit, life’s to short.???????
By the way, he has a blog and he's posting some pretty interesting tweets now and then.
Building the Next Generation of Web Apps with Objective-J and Cappuccino
REXML could not parse this XML/HTML: <h5>Francisco Tolmasky & Jorn van Dijk</h5>
Next up was a presentation about Cappuccino, a web application framework. It uses a language called Objective-J and it all looks very sweet. We saw some examples of desktop grade applications that run smoothly within a browser window. Good thing is, it’s all based on Javascript.
Another really cool thing was the upcoming interface builder Atlas, which I’m really looking forward to playing with. The whole presentation was interesting and exciting, though I doubt I’ll be using this in a project for a while since I build exclusively client websites and not web applications. However, I can’t wait to building some small app just to try it out.
Rich and Snappy Apps, No Scaling Required
REXML could not parse this XML/HTML: <h5>Thomas Fuchs & Amy Hoy</h5>
This was perhaps my favorite technical presentation at the event. I’m really enjoying front-end development and spending time on things like Javascript. Thomas and Amy walked us through a lot of good points on Javascript performance and best practices. All in all, very useful, practical and enjoyable presentation by two entertaining speakers.
While I’m using jQuery, the speakers recommended Prototype. This makes me wonder if there’s really a reason for switching, or if it’s a matter of personal preference. I’m guessing the latter and that Thomas is a bit biased, having created the script.aculo.us framework.
Other recommendations from the speakers were Sprockets for cleaner JS and Smush.it for image optimization. I’ll check out their new book, Javascript Performance Rocks!
And a lot more...
All above mentioned talks were before lunch and after lunch we attended the following, which I don’t have time to go into. If you have any questions regarding this event or if you're thinking about going next year, feel free to pop me an email.
REXML could not parse this XML/HTML: <strong>The Open & Social Web</strong>The Straight Truth About Ruby on RailsThe Future of Code
REXML could not parse this XML/HTML: <strong>Scaling your Tech & your Team</strong>
Not having touched or read about Rails before the event, I’m excited about it. It seems like a very comfortable framework to work with and I’d love to try it out. Geoffrey Grosenback of Peepcode gave us an excellent introduction which discussed examples and advantages as well as down-sides.
Steven Pemberton is also a great man who gave a thorough talk on the history of the web, the current situation and how the future will look like. Joe Stump, ex-Digg.com developer talked about scaling both your team to the sites you make’very interesting advice on how to cope with growth and work with developers.
Final thoughts
I got what I expected from the event and will definitely go next year if I’m still living in Amsterdam. It’s about gaining knowledge but also’perhaps even more so’a gathering of passionate people. In the end, you’re left with new ideas, motivation and inspiration that will last you a while.
Photos from Kings of Code day one are already on Flickr and the rest will be there soon. Just too bad my iPhone took better photos than the crappy old Minolta I borrowed from the office. (Which, by the way, I had to feed 16 batteries.)
EDIT: Photos from day two are now on Flickr.
Thanks
REXML could not parse this XML/HTML: <p>I’d like to thank all the speakers and the people working at the event for a great time, and of course also <a href="http://www.marsmedia.nl/">MARS media</a> for the tickets. See you next year!<p>