Work is already well underway for next year’s unconference. Read on to learn more about what happens when, the confirmed keynote, call for speakers and new website.
Timeline for 2014
We’ve created the first iteration of the plan for this year. In case you were wondering, here are the key milestones between now and the end of 2014:
- Sep 03: New website goes live
- Sep 03: Call for papers opened
- Nov 03: Registrations opened
- Nov 10: Program announced
Confirmed keynote
As we announced in May, we already have confirmed one of the keynote speakers for 2015. Simon Brown is a renowned architect and trainer on agile architecture and author of Software Architecture for Developers. With a schedule as busy as his, we’re sure glad it matched our dates for next year’s I T.A.K.E Unconference.
Call for speakers open
We have opened the call for speakers. For next year we decided to keep the topics that you hold dear: architecture, design principles, TDD etc. and also add some new areas that are becoming more and more popular these days: mobile, big data, scaling architecture etc. Visit the page to learn more.
If you know somebody that has something valuable to share with our audience, we’d appreciate it if you shared the link for the call page.
New website
We hope you enjoy the new website we’ve created. Based on your feedback during the past two years, we decided to come up with a new design that is accessible on all mobile devices. We’d like to thank our partners at Gorilla Studio for their effort and creativity with the new design.
We’re really excited for next year’s edition! So far things look great and we are committed to delivering the best edition yet to all our attendees. See you there?
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Do you like the new website? Have any questions about the call for papers or the unconference? Let us know in the comments.
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Rebecca Wirfs-Brock: Maintaining Your Code Clint Eastwood Style
Rebecca Wirfs-Brock is the object design pioneer who invented the set of design practices known as Responsibility-Driven Design (RDD), the first behavioral approach to object design. She is the lead author of two software design books and design columnist for IEEE Software. By accident, she started the x-Driven Design meme (TDD, DDD, BDD…). Although best known for software design, she is has a passion simply expressing complex requirements and effectively communicating software architecture.
Rebecca shared with the audience how to maintain your code in the keynote address from the first edition of I T.A.K.E Unconference. Watch below her remarks!
Code. Craft. Learn. Share. Repeat. Call for Speakers for I T.A.K.E Unconference, 5th edition, is open! Apply here.
Programming contest @I T.A.K.E Unconference
As for every I TAKE Unconference edition, we want to give a chance to the software crafters from the audience to showcase their skills and learn more in the process. And because we appreciate passion, we offer a prize to those who convince a jury of well-known international developers that they are the most skilled in the room.
This contest is not meant to be easy. It will require you to practice beforehand, so please read the instructions carefully.
It will also require you to register before the event.
Mechanics
- IMPORTANT: Register to the contest latest one day before I TAKE Unconference by sending an email to steliana.moraru@mozaicworks.com
- On the first day of the event, after lunch, you have max 15′ to do a performing kata in front of the jury.
- The winner will be announced at the end of the second day
Constraints
To simplify the jury’s decision, the performing kata has to conform to the following constraints:
- Only the following programming languages are accepted: Java, C, C++, C#, Python, Visual Basic .NET, PHP, Javascript, Swift or Ruby
- Only solo contestants are accepted. Sorry, no pair programming this time
- The kata has to showcase refactoring skills.
- The kata has to last max. 15′
How we will judge
The jury will judge your refactoring skills.
The ideal kata looks like this – you will get maximum point if you:
- clearly state the smells you see in the code
- pick one of the smells
- clearly state your plan to fix the smell
- fix it in small, safe steps
- run tests after each step to prove you didn’t break anything
- commit after each step with a clear message explaining why you made the change
- fix as many smells as possible within the time constraint
You will loose points if you:
- make big or unsafe changes to the code
- break the behaviour after changing the code
- don’t improve the code a lot
- don’t improve the design by the end of the kata (hint: we judge design using SOLID principles and the four elements of simple design)
Recommendations
To help you, we’ve thought out what we would do if we participated to such a contest. Here’s what we recommend.
1) Use one of the following codebases for the kata:
- https://github.com/emilybache/GildedRose-Refactoring-Kata
- https://github.com/emilybache/Tennis-Refactoring-Kata
- https://github.com/emilybache/Yatzy-Refactoring-Kata
- https://github.com/emilybache/Parrot-Refactoring-Kata
2) Practice beforehand on the structure we presented for the ideal kata. Ideally find someone to practice with.
3) Watch other people refactoring. YouTube has many videos on the topic, including using the recommended code bases.
Glossary
A programming kata is a repeatable exercise used to practice specific skills.
Performing kata means doing a kata in front of an audience.
Refactoring means changing the internal structure of the code without changing its behaviour.
Call for Speakers Opened
Send your proposal to become a speaker at I T.A.K.E. Unconference 2019. This year we are interested in specific topics, and choosing one of them might get you closer to becoming a speaker.
To increase your chances to become accepted, here are some tips:
#1. Get into the attendees shoes
If you have a very clear idea of who your audience is going to be, make the exercise to think from their point of view. They choose to attend your session, and they expect the best value from their investment.
#2. Customize, customize, customize
Every audience is unique, so craft your proposal according to what you know about your audience and about the event. Try to bring an original approach for each session you submit.
#3. Pay attention to details
When you apply, make sure you have an excellent title, a clear description of what you want to present and a strong personal bio.
#4. Invest time in your application
Although it might seem at hand, making a proposal takes time. Make sure you follow the guidelines offered by the organizers and when in doubt, ask for more details. Make sure you offer the details requested in the application.
#5. And a little extra thing
You’ve seen the call, you got your information in order and you are pretty sure you want to make a submission.
You can read more in detail about our tips here.
Have any questions about the call for papers or the Unconference? Let us know in the comments.