Comment On ConFoo & QCon London

I know I've been a bit quiet on the writing front lately (big things happening at the day job and all), but I wanted to let you know about a couple upcoming events I'll be at. It's always fun to meet-up and give away these TDWTF mugs.

On February 27, I'll be speaking at the ConFoo  web technology conference, which is being held up in Montreal, Canada. There's  a tonne of sessions and a whole lotte of local and international speakers. Here's the talk I'll be giving.

Think Before You Code

Directors use storyboards before filming, landscapers use blueprints before shovels, and painters sketch their masterpieces long before their brush hits the canvas. Yet, as software developers, we often make the mistake of jump straight to the code. And next thing you know, a “proof of concept” becomes production, and a team is stuck maintaining a legacy.

But there’s a better way to build software. Actually, it’s pretty simple: think, validate, build. In this talk, we’ll explore what many consider a relic of the past – software modeling – and discuss how it can help you become more agile, reuse more code and concepts, and build higher-quality applications.

The following week, I'll be at the seventh-annual QCon London. It's an enterprise software development conference with tracks centered on Java, .NET, HTML5, Mobile, Agile, and Architecture. I'll be talking about cloud stuffs.

Racing Thru the Last Mile: Cloud Delivery & Web-Scale Deployment

Explosive growth; millions of users; global 24/7 usage -- it's a dream wished by many and a nightmare experienced by few. It's the Web-Scale, and it's redefining how we create and deliver software. If a run-of-the-mill enterprise application is like a Honda, then a Web-Scale application is like a Formula 1 car -- engineering and maintenance challenges included. One missed detail, and you could lose the race, or worse, hit the berm and end up as a tangled-mess of scrap metal.

But unlike Formula 1, there are no pit stops or scheduled maintenance windows. Changes to Web-Scale applications must be error free and have no down-time... unless you want to face a mob of angry, demanding users somewhere in the world, and an even angrier mob of managers and investors. In this talk, we'll discuss various deployment strategies, scalable delivery, and how a few real-world Web-Scale organizations do it, from AllRecipes.com to Twitter, and even the monstrous Google.

If you're planning on attending either event, please drop me a note -- that way, I can make sure to bring a TDWTF mug for you, and we can grab a beer or something.