This is the second post in a multi-part series. The conference covered two days, with many presentations, lightning talks, and conversations about software craftsmanship.
Lightning talks
The one that stood out most for me was by a group of developers from Boston. They talked about their software craftsmanship meet-up group. Interesting because it intersects somewhat with my plans for adding a craftsmanship group at my workplace.
Take-away: (in their opinion) it doesn't matter how big the group is, and smaller is better.
Apprenticeship panel
The concept of apprenticeship is really taking off in software development shops. This was a group of "apprentices" describing their experience.
My take-aways:
A laugh fest. It was done in Code Dojo (by my definition) format using Ruby and Rspec. I followed along for a while, but they didn't know what they wanted to do. Uncle Bob rubbed an English guy's head.
My take-aways:
Take-away: (in their opinion) it doesn't matter how big the group is, and smaller is better.
Apprenticeship panel
The concept of apprenticeship is really taking off in software development shops. This was a group of "apprentices" describing their experience.
My take-aways:
- Apprenticeship is very effective, and lasts somewhere between 6-12 months.
- You need an understanding customer, since the apprentice must work side-by-side with masters on a client site.
A laugh fest. It was done in Code Dojo (by my definition) format using Ruby and Rspec. I followed along for a while, but they didn't know what they wanted to do. Uncle Bob rubbed an English guy's head.
My take-aways:
- Don't run my Randori's like this.
Lean vs Corporate
Ken Auer talked about his entrepreneur clients, and how they need a real value proposition.
My take-aways:
- If/when I return to consulting, my customers really won't like to part with their money.
- Giving them what they need is a good thing - don't build a Mercedes for someone who needs a Yugo.
