A year ago, I was in Minnesota fulfilling a goal I’d set for myself a few years before – to speak at an NDC conference! NDC, the Norwegian Developer Conference, organise spectacularly well-run conferences in a growing list of countries, and it was great to join their roster – something I hope to do again before too long.
The whole NDC archive is available online, including my talk, on their vimeo page and now also on YouTube. While at the moment obviously we can’t attend conferences in person, we can still enjoy and learn from the great talks already out there – so here’s 5 of my personal favourites.
So, why not make the most of the time available at the moment and see what you think. What are your favourites?
The Developer’s Guide to Promoting Your Work – Todd Gardner
When I first met Todd, it was in Oslo 6 years ago, and it’s great and inspiring to see how far he’s gone both with TrackJS and with speaking! What I really like about this talk is that is it totally honest and transparent, and shows the side that most developers – myself included – don’t see. As I’m now hoping to follow in Todd’s footsteps in launching our own products at NHance, we have watched this video many times, making copious notes to apply it for ourselves. Thanks Todd for this talk, and for the help and feedback you’ve given me in our chats at conferences since then!
The Single Responsibility Principle – Robert C. Martin
Of course, Uncle Bob has to be in here! The Single Responsibility Principle is one of the SOLID principles that many developers are aware of – but this talk helped me appreciate the nuance and trade-offs in a way that I hadn’t before. The Clean Code book is of course a classic, and the things I learned from this represented a major step up in my career. When I first saw Uncle Bob in person, he kindly signed a copy for me.
How to get productive in a project in 24h – Greg Young
When I first saw this talk, I was about to leave regular employment to go into contracting – where being able to switch projects and quickly make an impact is of massive importance! The techniques used here – and the descriptions of them – have served me well for years!
Making Steaks From Sacred Cows – Kevlin Henney
Software can get quite dogmatic at times, and in this talk Kevlin Henney questions some of the accepted wisdoms. The most important message in here, I think, is to apply critical thinking and ask “why”. We’ll either gain a deeper understanding, or find better ways – both are great outcomes!
Clean Architecture – Robert C. Martin
An earlier version of this talk was where a lot of things about software architecture “clicked” for me. To this day, I find many teams who think they are talking about architecture, but totally missing the point. This should be compulsory viewing for any software team who are trying to build something in a way that makes sense and can be maintained!