What lacks Devcamp Bangalore

Devcamp Bangalore is another attempt to have a good unconference style developers conference. But I feel its been plagued by several issues. I am writing it today because I did not want to generate negative publicity around an event which could have been one of the bridges for moving of Indians from coding coolies to tech giants. Still there were certain things which made me doubtful of the motive of the event. I am post now about it because there are only a few hours left for the event to start and I am going to attend it. But these are something which the organizers on their part must make sure does not happen.

First thing is, probably this event was there because Martin Fowler was coming to Bangalore. He is being treated as the chief guest. His topic too is yet to be decided. In true Barcamp spirit, this does not happen. I dont know if Martin Fowler is driving this camp or the campers themselves.

The event homepage at one point of time had link to a post by a gentleman who had genuine disappointment against Barcamp Bangalore. He believed that Barcamp is no more techie stuff. It is encompassing a whole lot of other stuff. Well I don't mind that post, but to promote something by bashing another event is ethically incorrect. I was particularly offended as I had some role in organizing Barcamp Bangalore. It was the first time I was into it and the people there were really supportive of the fact that I was there. I liked their principle that Barcamp Bangalore should be umbrella organisation for all topics which cannot afford to have a separate unconference. I liked that attitude. I appreciated this event  because Barcamp Bangalore was reaching some of its goals. Obviously the post on the main page was not required. Also Barcamp is as good as the people participating in it. I why people hate Barcamp because it still allows to have your own talk.

Anyways these guys have managed to get some real good topics on the board. I hope I get to learn something new tomorrow. I know that for sure that even for next two years I wont be doing something that would be worth talking at a barcamp like this.

Topics that I am really interested in are

  • Writing a reddit clone as an orkut application - Jude
  • Programming with Android - Selvan,
       1. Touchscreen, SMS handling, Handling web-pages
       2. Phone state handling
       3. Programmatically accessing mobile hardware (Vibarator et al)
       4. FixedPoint Math, 2D Graphics, 3D Graphics with OpenGL-ES
  • Let's Develop an Open J2ME Mobile Game - Zarina 
  • Deploying python web apps on the desktop - Siddhi
  • Microformats and Semantic Web - Jeswin P
  • Clutter: Creating cutting edge hardware accelerated UI on linux - Shreyas Srinivasan

By the way, since Martin Fowler's topic is 'yet to be decided' I will take a call on it tomorrow.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Interesting post 100rabh. I shall be waiting to read about the event and the way it went as well.
Cheers
Vaibhav
Helping laymen become technology enthusiast at http://technofriends.wordpress.com
February 10, 2008 4:58 PM
100rabh™ said…
Well Vaibhav, the event went very well. I was actually happy that the event happened well. There were some interesting take aways for me from this devcamp. I will surely be blogging about it in a few days. Will be waiting for the next one to happen in a few months again.
February 10, 2008 5:16 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

[24th November 2024] Interesting Things I Learnt This Week

Image
1. AI Makes Tech Debt More Expensive - The core argument is that generative AI significantly widens the gap between codebases with low and high tech debt. Companies with clean code can leverage generative AI to write code much faster, while companies with messy legacy codebases struggle to adopt these new tools. This widens the gap between the two codebases, making tech debt even more expensive for companies with outdated systems. My Take : Legacy systems inevitably accumulate technical debt. A common analogy for this is the state of urinals over time: missed targets lead to increasing mess, keeps pushing people away from urinals and leading to more mess in turn. AI-powered coding tools could potentially accelerate the accumulation of tech debt. However, skilled engineers can leverage AI to reduce and even eliminate it. Ultimately, AI is just a tool, and human judgment remains crucial for making informed decisions. I hope AI will be used responsibly to drive positive outcomes. 2. Make...
Read more

[17th November 2024] Interesting Things I Learnt This Week

Image
 1. Booleans are a trap : Booleans, while seemingly simple, can introduce complexity and limitations into domain modeling. When used to represent complex states, booleans can lead to unclear code and potential errors. To avoid these pitfalls, consider using enums or enum sets. These approaches provide a more expressive and maintainable way to model complex states in your applications. My Take : I wish I had learned this earlier in life. When working with Google Docs, I realized the limitations of booleans. Expanding boolean-based behaviors often led to adding more fields, making the system complex. Enums would have provided a simpler solution. The problem wasn't just the booleans themselves, but also the need to pass them through multiple layers of the stack, often requiring additional parameters. Another important aspect of enums is the inclusion of an " enum not specified " state. This state explicitly indicates that an enum value hasn't been set, which can be usef...
Read more

[1st December 2024] Interesting Things I Learnt This Week

Image
1. C++ Pitfalls - this article, explains some of the pitfalls you can fall into when programming in C++ and shares their experience with them. This includes Operator precedence, Arithmetic conversion rules, Right bit-shift, Implicit conversions and Order of evaluation.  My Take : We've all read about JavaScript's quirks, leading to unexpected outputs. But let's remember that such behaviors aren't unique to JavaScript. Even languages like C and C++ have their share of ambiguities and compiler-specific behaviors. While it's tempting to dive deep into these intricacies, I've found that focusing on clear, consistent, and unambiguous code is often more practical. However, understanding these nuances is essential for any experienced programmer. It helps us avoid pitfalls and write robust, reliable code. Remember, mastering a language isn't just about writing "Hello World." It involves delving into its intricacies, including its counterintuitive and ambi...
Read more