Code Camp 2010 in Words & Pictures
The Jacksonville Developer User Group pulled off an excellent code camp this weekend. It was a great opprotunity to catch up with friends, meet new ones, and learn some good tech!
My day started off as a volunteer at the registration table. We had a great group of volunteers...even if it was 6:30 in the morning...on a Saturday!
Our welcome sign...who says you don't need a code monkey?
After handing out badges, bags, and shirts for a couple hours it was off to my first class: SQL Server Complex Event Processing. This is the new StreamInsight technology that is part of SQL Server 2008 R2. Interesting stuff for streaming real-time data from various system...I'll need to dig into it a bit deeper.
Next it was off to learn about Functional Programming and then "Becoming a Rx Pusher with the Reactive Framework". The Reactive Framework talk was probably the most interesting of the day. It was presented by Jim Wooley who posts at ThinqLinq.com. The Rx framework looks extremely interesting in terms of how it handles asynchronous processing.
Of course, I had to visit my friends over at PR'UF. The PR'UF system was launched at this year's Code Camp and provides a better way to find the talented developers & architects you need. What makes PR'UF different? It uses reputable industry experts who recognize each candidate's talents and match them to projects. Tired of getting less than stellar candidates? Check into PR'UF.
Next it was off to learn about the new managed metadata functionality in SharePoint 2010. I was pretty surprised on how cool this technology actually is. It provides easy ways to build up taxonomy hierachies, tag lists or documents by them, and then use them to filter your content. Of course, you need the SharePoint Server edition (not just the "included" foundation edition). I finished up the day with a little "Dynamic Code generation with IL & Expressions" followed up with "SharePoint 2010 Business Intelligence". I think the BI speaker was a little more excited about LightSwitch than BI...so most of that talk was on LightSwitch. There has been lots of buzz LightSwitch since it was announced. It looks like it has potential for good, but also potential for evil...only time will tell.
To wrap up the day, we had the closing remarks & SWAG giveaway. The high points were the iPad giveaway & the XBOX 360 + 20' flat screen giveaway! Other SWAG included books, magazine subscriptions, and free software. Of course, I walked away empty handed...but thats just the way it goes sometimes.
All in all, it was a great event. If you're in Jacksonville or the surrounding area, you should definitely check it out next year. In the mean time, get involved in Jax DUG (Jacksonville Developer User Group) and the Jax Arg Sig (Architecture Special Interest Group).