Thursday, August 27, 2009

This Just In: Developers Value Passion And Fundamentals!

I just received my MSDN Flash newsletter in my inbox and noticed the results of last week’s poll. The question was “what is the most important trait of a programmer fresh out of college” and I was pleasantly surprised by the results!




I would like to think that these are traits that are valued in programmers of all skill levels. One could also argue that if you combine the top two results, then programmers that have a passion for continuously learning about fundamentals are the most valued programmers of all! If you agree, then I have fantastic news for you because a new track has been added to TechDays in Vancouver and Toronto!


I will be presenting Test-Driven Development Techniques in the Developer Fundamentals track and I will also be presenting about…wait…ummm…something really cool and worthwhile in the newly announced Developer Foundations track. More info on that one when the MS legal department stamps their approval.

Friday, August 7, 2009

New Developer Foundations Track at TechDays Vancouver!

It has been a crazy couple of weeks since my last post about the lack of fundamentals at TechDays.  Shortly after, John Bristowe (Developer Evangelist for Western Canada) contacted me about presenting the TDD session at TechDays in Vancouver.  After some back-and-forth, I decided that what better way to influence the material at TechDays than to present it myself, so I agreed and will be presenting.

In the meantime, we also announced the evening sessions presented by ALT.NET Vancouver.  We’ll be hosting a keynote speaker and a series of lightning talks in the evening of Sept 14th, followed by an evening of open spaces on the evening of Sept 15th.  This will be a great opportunity for you to bring up any topics that you would like to have covered that were missing from the main conference.

Also, earlier this week Justice Gray contacted me about what I thought was missing from TechDays and what sessions I would add if given the chance.  This was right around the time that he was hinting that there might be something in the works, but I couldn’t have guessed that he had actually managed to get a new track added to TechDays Vancouver!  That’s right, TechDays Vancouver (and Toronto) will now have a Developer Foundations track that will be expanded to all TechDays in the future if it is successful, and who is going to doubt that?

It’s awesome to see that Microsoft listened to the community and added this track.  A big thank you goes out to the TechDays people, Justice and Peter Ritchie for making this happen!