Nathaniel Schutta

HTML5 Revisited

4:30 PM MDT

The technology space is a lot like the ocean - miss one wave and another will come along shortly; most shiny new things begin with a sizable amount of hype as everyone rushes to play with the new toy. This cycle is often met with a level of disappointment as we quickly discover our new bauble isn't all that and a bag of chips so we rush off to the next best thing ever.

A few short years ago, HTML5 was the new hotness but at the time browser support was spotty at best. Despite the spotlight moving on to something else, browser support has improved markedly and we even have new toys to play with! In this talk, I will walk you through what is possible in today's browser as well as what other new features you might not be aware of. HTML5 may no longer qualify as bleeding edge, but it is still deserving of our attention.

Leading Technical Change

8:30 PM MDT

Technology changes, it's a fact of life. And while many developers are attracted to the challenge of change, many organizations do a particularly poor job of adapting. We've all worked on projects with, ahem, less than new technologies even though newer approaches would better serve the business. But how do we convince those holding the purse strings to pony up the cash when things are “working” today? At a personal, how do we keep up with the change in our industry?

This talk will explore ways to stay sharp as a software professional. We'll talk about how a technology radar can help you stay marketable (and enjoying your career) and how we can use the same technique to help our companies keep abreast of important changes in the technology landscape. Of course it isn't enough to just be aware, we have to drive change - but how? This talk will consider ways we can influence others and lead change in our organizations.

Agile in the Large

1:30 PM MDT

Almost every example of an agile project involves a single team and while many successful projects are delivered that way, most enterprise software requires the interaction of several teams. But how do we scale agile beyond a single team? What practices translate and which ones don't? In this talk we'll discuss some of the issues you'll encounter as you move agile beyond a single group and how you can keep multiple stakeholders happy. While it isn't as simple as having a “scrum of scrums” it isn't as hard as replacing every line of COBOL.

Almost every example of an agile project involves a single team and while many successful projects are delivered that way, most enterprise software requires the interaction of several teams. But how do we scale agile beyond a single team? What practices translate and which ones don't? In this talk we'll discuss some of the issues you'll encounter as you move agile beyond a single group and how you can keep multiple stakeholders happy. While it isn't as simple as having a “scrum of scrums” it isn't as hard as replacing every line of COBOL.

Communication for Architects

3:15 PM MDT

At the end of the day, an architect's primary job is to communicate. Not only do we need to make sure our teams understand the design of the system well enough to implement it, we must be able to explain our decisions to an audience that isn't impressed with how many TLAs you can rattle off in one sentence. Successful architects need to seamlessly transition from in depth technical conversations to budget meetings to discussions with end users adjusting the message to fit the audience.

While oral communication is key, good architects also spend a good deal of time putting pixel to screen via email, IM and various architectural documents we're expected to create. We need to write clearly and concisely while also knowing when the best course of action is to pick up the phone or walk to someone's desk.

In this talk, we'll explore the various methods that we as architects use to communicate with our stakeholders. We'll talk about knowing our audience, being able to present as well as how to run a good meeting. We'll discuss various patterns (and antipatterns) of presenting along with some concrete advice on how to do it better. At the end of the day, our job is to tell effectively tell a story - this talk will look at ways to do that.

Reviewing Architectures

5:00 PM MDT

Good architects are, almost by definition, good story tellers. And while good communication skills are vital to success as an architect, so too is an ability to constructively critique an architecture. In this talk, we'll explore why reviews are important and what it takes to perform them well. Additionally, we'll talk about the importance of planning and preparation in conducting a successful review.

Good architects are, almost by definition, good story tellers. And while good communication skills are vital to success as an architect, so too is an ability to constructively critique an architecture. In this talk, we'll explore why reviews are important and what it takes to perform them well. Additionally, we'll talk about the importance of planning and preparation in conducting a successful review.

Modeling for Web Architects

9:00 AM MDT

In some organizations, architects are dismissed as people that draw box and arrow diagrams - the dreaded whiteboard architect. While we don't want to foster that stereotype, it is important for an architect to be able to construct basic architectural diagrams. An architect must also be able to separate the wheat from the chaff eliminating those models that don't help tell the story while fully leveraging those that do.

In this workshop, we'll discuss the various diagrams at our disposal. We'll walk through a case study and as we go, we'll construct a set of diagrams that will help us effectively communicate our design. We'll talk about stakeholders and who might benefit from each type of diagram. Additionally we'll discuss how to constructively review an architectural model.

Modeling for Web Architects

10:45 AM MDT

In some organizations, architects are dismissed as people that draw box and arrow diagrams - the dreaded whiteboard architect. While we don't want to foster that stereotype, it is important for an architect to be able to construct basic architectural diagrams. An architect must also be able to separate the wheat from the chaff eliminating those models that don't help tell the story while fully leveraging those that do.

In this workshop, we'll discuss the various diagrams at our disposal. We'll walk through a case study and as we go, we'll construct a set of diagrams that will help us effectively communicate our design. We'll talk about stakeholders and who might benefit from each type of diagram. Additionally we'll discuss how to constructively review an architectural model.

Bulletproof JavaScript

1:30 PM MDT

Take a look at your codebase. Go ahead, this abstract will wait. Notice anything? Perhaps a few more lines of JavaScript than years past? JavaScript is no longer an outlier, a language for the interns, something we can just mash together. Today, JavaScript is a first class citizen. As such, we need to treat it will all the care and feeding we extend our server side languages. This talk will introduce you to a set of tools that will help you write bulletproof JavaScript.

Step one, make sure we aren't making any basic mistakes like using == when we really mean ===. To remedy these types of bugs, we'll leverage JSHint to statically analyze our code. In addition to walking through the setup, we'll discuss how to ratchet up the rules as you improve your codebase. Just like Java or C#, we also need to test our JavaScript code. We'll introduce Jasmine, a BDD style testing tool as well as other tools that make help in the testing process. Last but not least, we'll take a tour of Plato, a JavaScript source code visualizer. Taken together, these tools can go a long way to improve your JavaScript code.

JavaScript Katas

3:15 PM MDT

If you have ever studied a martial art, chances are you are familiar with katas: the practice of individual training exercises. Repeatedly. It may seem pointless to practice the same move again and again, the only way to improve is repetition. We can apply the same concept to learning programming languages.

Working individually or in small groups, attendees will work through a set of problems using JavaScript to solve them. Whether you are new to JavaScript or an old hand, this session will give you an opportunity to hone your craft! Bring a laptop or be prepared to make a friend.