CodeMash V2.0.1.2

Technology/Platform: .NET

Difficulty Level: Beginner

Start Time: Wednesday January 11, 2012 @ 8:30 AM

Location: Salon B

Abstract: TDD Immersion covers everything you need to know to do test-driven development on real .NET projects. We'll go over stuff like: - How to write tests first - How to ensure that our code not only works, but meets the needs of the business - How to refactor your code to make it easier to test - Mocking frameworks like Rhino Mocks - Dependency injection with StructureMap - what it is, how it works, and how to set it up in your project - TDD tips and tricks We'll also walk through a sample ASP.NET MVC web app and show you how you might set up an actual project, work with ORMs and data access layers, set up your test projects, and make things easy to test. We'll end with some TDD practice to help you hone your TDD skills, so bring your laptop (or pair up with someone who has one). TDD has revolutionized the way that I write code and it can do the same for you!

Presented By: Jon Kruger

About the Speaker: Jon Kruger is an independent consultant in Columbus, OH where he provides technical leadership for Agile software development projects. Jon has over 10 years experience in various different programming languages (mostly Ruby and .NET) and is always looking for ways to create better quality software and speed up the software development process. You can follow Jon on his blog (jonkruger.com<http://jonkruger.com><http://jonkruger.com/>) or on Twitter (twitter.com/jonkruger<http://twitter.com/jonkruger><http://twitter.com/jonkruger>

Technology/Platform: Ruby

Difficulty Level: Advanced

Start Time: Wednesday January 11, 2012 @ 1:30 PM

Location: Salon H

Abstract: Rails is an incredible framework for building applications quickly. But many projects never mature, they just grow bigger. Let's experiment with patterns that allow us to maintain high development velocity and our application to stay healthy. It just so happens that these patterns also help scale your application to thousands of requests per second. We'll work through: * Implementing asynchronous workers * Adding presenter objects to the view layer * Adding facade objects to the data layer * Separating business logic from persistence * Breaking out functionality to coordinating applications Great applications are crafted. Move beyond the basics and build Rails applications that last. AUDIENCE: This session is for experienced Rails developers looking to take their skills to the next level. Ideally you've been building Rails applications for at least a year, feel comfortable with the framework, and are proficient at Ruby.

Presented By: Jeff Casimir

About the Speaker: Jeff Casimir has been writing Ruby and Rails applications since 2005 and started Jumpstart Lab in 2009. He currently travels the world teaching the best Ruby/Rails classes on earth.

Technology/Platform: Mobile

Difficulty Level: Intermediate

Start Time: Wednesday January 11, 2012 @ 8:30 AM

Location: Sagewood / Zebrawood

Abstract: Creating a mobile strategy is something many companies still struggle with. iOS and Android own the majority of market share for smartphones, so Android will play a big part in any good mobile strategy. The Android SDK has matured in the more than three years since the first release, and the strong Android community has different opinions among many developers.In this session, Jeff and Scott will work with you to develop an Android application, from start to publish. The majority of this talk will discuss native Android development using Java, but will finish with a few alternatives. They will provide the training for you to leave this talk ready to turn "I have an idea" into "You should see this app." There is no Java prerequisite for this session, and we will work with you to ensure a great learning experience. But we do ask that you come prepared, installing the Android Development tools on your laptop. Please visit http://www.gravityworksdesign.com/About/SpeakingEvents/AndroidPrecompiler.aspx for detailed instructions before the session. We will have ten laptops for attendee use on a FIFO basis.

Presented By: Jeff McWherter and Scott Gowell

About the Speaker: Jeff McWherter and Scott Gowell work together at Gravity Works Design & Development, a consulting shop in Lansing Michigan founded on a passion for detail-focused design, sound development practices, education, and community involvement. Over the last two years, Jeff and Scott have been pairing together to deliver both web and mobile applications to a wide range of clients, including U2, Molly Maid, and the Michigan High School Athletic Association. If a problem exists they have seen it, with a combined total of over 29 years of professional software consulting experience. Working together to push the envelope of mobile development, they have learned to love new versions of an SDK. They worked with just about every mobile framework out there, and will be able to answer specific questions about your mobile development needs.

Technology/Platform: Other

Difficulty Level: Beginner

Start Time: Wednesday January 11, 2012 @ 8:30 AM

Location: Salon C

Abstract: In this interactive session, you'll learn some of the basic principles and practices of writing better quality code: testing and pairing. You'll work with a variety of partners on coding katas designed to instill best practices that you'll then be ready to apply when next you work on production code. This session is led by the organizers of the Hudson Software Craftsmanship group and provides a great introduction to the afternoon's Intermediate Software Craftsmanship session (though this is not a prerequisite for that session).

Presented By: Steve Smith and Brendan Enrick

About the Speaker: Steve is a Senior Architect with The Code Project, a Microsoft Regional Director, and a Microsoft MVP. He has been writing software professionally since 1997 and is one of the founders and organizers of the Hudson Software Craftsmanship group, which meets monthly in Hudson, Ohio. Steve is also a co-founder of NimblePros, an agile software consulting company located in Hudson, and Lake Quincy Media (now a part of The Code Project), which manages the largest advertising network dedicated to Microsoft developers. Steve lives in Kent, Ohio with his wife Michelle and their two children. You can find him online at http://SteveSmithBlog.com and on twitter at http://twitter.com/ardalis. Brendan is a Lead Developer with NimblePros, an agile software consulting company located in Hudson, Ohio. </br> Brendan is a Microsoft MVP whose expertise is in ASP.NET, and he is one of the founders and organizers of the Hudson Software Crafstmanship group, which meets monthly in Hudson, Ohio. He blogs at http://Brendan.Enrick.com/ and can be found on Twitter under the alias @brendoneus

Technology/Platform: .NET

Difficulty Level: Intermediate

Start Time: Wednesday January 11, 2012 @ 8:30 AM

Location: Nile

Abstract: The social gaming market continues to grow and become more profitable, and eMarketer predicts it will increase to $1.32 billion in revenues by 2012 (up from $856 million in 2010). Join us for this full day workshop where we will cover how to build Social Games using HTML5, .NET Framework and Windows Azure. We’ll walk through how to build a game using HTML5 and leverage frameworks like EaselJS. We’ll show how to quickly get up and running in the cloud using the Windows Azure Toolkit for Social Games. Then we’ll show how you can leverage HTML5 and JavaScript to create the game experience in a Windows 8 Metro style app and leverage features of the Windows 8 platform. Finally, we’ll discuss how we extended the game experience to other devices including Windows Phone and the iPhone.

Presented By: Nathan Totten

About the Speaker: Nathan Totten is a Technical Evangelist at Microsoft specializing in Windows Azure and web development. He is also the creator and lead developer of the Facebook C# SDK. Before Microsoft, Nathan was a Senior Software Engineer at Thuzi where he worked on social media applications and analytics tools. He has experience building Windows Azure applications that handle large traffic spikes and maintain high availability and performance. He is also actively involved in open source development and the developer community. You will regularly find him answering questions on Stackoverflow.com or the open source forum discussions.

Technology/Platform: Other

Difficulty Level: Beginner

Start Time: Wednesday January 11, 2012 @ 8:30 AM

Location: Acacia

Abstract: (Limited to 30 participants each) The importance of creative mind in the corporate world cannot be emphasized enough. In today’s demanding market, when every effort is maximized and any improvement counts, creativity can become your winning edge. This original workshop will open the door to the hidden creativity potential within each participant. Building on proven improvisational techniques and principles, in a fun and supportive environment, we will show you how to change routine patterns, step outside your comfort zone, and fuel new ideas. We will focus on the following topics:  Exploration and figuring out objectives  Stepping outside your comfort zone in a trusting environment  Building better active listening skills  Generating new ideas by changing routine patterns  Suspending judgment to accept and explore all offer

Presented By: Jessie Shternshus

About the Speaker: As the founder and owner of The IMPROV EFFECT, Jessie weds her lifelong passion for and expertise in applied improv with the fast paced demands of the corporate world. In her classes and workshops she helps people become better listeners, team players, problem solvers, leaders, and communicators. Her physically engaging and playful workshops are relevant to all fields of life; participants of her workshops vary from college professors to engineers and from software developers to lawyers. Jessie gained her formal education at USF and NYU. Throughout her career she has worked with companies such as CBS, Paramount Pictures, MTV and Sesame Workshop. She also facilitates communication skills workshops and speaks at national and international conferences such as Bizconf, Madison Ruby, Conferencia Rails.

Technology/Platform: Other

Difficulty Level: Beginner

Start Time: Wednesday January 11, 2012 @ 1:30 PM

Location: Acacia

Abstract: (Limited to 30 participants each) The importance of creative mind in the corporate world cannot be emphasized enough. In today’s demanding market, when every effort is maximized and any improvement counts, creativity can become your winning edge. This original workshop will open the door to the hidden creativity potential within each participant. Building on proven improvisational techniques and principles, in a fun and supportive environment, we will show you how to change routine patterns, step outside your comfort zone, and fuel new ideas. We will focus on the following topics:  Exploration and figuring out objectives  Stepping outside your comfort zone in a trusting environment  Building better active listening skills  Generating new ideas by changing routine patterns  Suspending judgment to accept and explore all offer

Presented By: Jessie Shternshus

About the Speaker: As the founder and owner of The IMPROV EFFECT, Jessie weds her lifelong passion for and expertise in applied improv with the fast paced demands of the corporate world. In her classes and workshops she helps people become better listeners, team players, problem solvers, leaders, and communicators. Her physically engaging and playful workshops are relevant to all fields of life; participants of her workshops vary from college professors to engineers and from software developers to lawyers. Jessie gained her formal education at USF and NYU. Throughout her career she has worked with companies such as CBS, Paramount Pictures, MTV and Sesame Workshop. She also facilitates communication skills workshops and speaks at national and international conferences such as Bizconf, Madison Ruby, Conferencia Rails.

Technology/Platform: Mobile

Difficulty Level: Intermediate

Start Time: Wednesday January 11, 2012 @ 8:30 AM

Location: Aloeswood / Leopardwood

Abstract: iOS 5 is a great time to get into iOS programming, as the changes in this version of the SDK radically rewrite some of the most essential rules for developing iPhone and iPad applications. With Automatic Reference Counting (ARC), the bugbear of manual memory management is largely lifted off the developer's shoulders. With Storyboards, you can banish your manual stage-management of view controllers and their transitions, instead using a visual overview of the flow of your application's screens. Take away these hassles and what's left? More time to work on the functionality that's specific to your application. This session will get you up and going with iOS 5 development from a modern, no-legacy point of view. And it'll have you ready for the afternoon's precompiler on Mac development for iOS developers.

Presented By: Chris Adamson & Daniel Steinberg

About the Speaker: Chris Adamson: Chris Adamson is an iOS and Mac developer, editor, and author, based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is the co-author of Core Audio (Addison-Wesley Professional) and iPhone SDK Development (Pragmatic Programmers), among others. He has several apps on the App Store, including the navigation app "Road Tip". He maintains a corporate identity as "Subsequently & Furthermore, Inc.", and has thus far owned 11½ Macs. <p>Daniel Steinberg: Daniel Steinberg has spent the last three decades programming the iPad, iPhone, and Mac OS X. OK, he hasn't. But he's been programming the iPhone and the iPad since the SDK's first appeared in beta and Mac OS X for many years before. Daniel is co-author of the book iPad Programming from the Pragmatic Programmers and author of their book Cocoa Programming. Daniel presents iPhone and Cocoa training for the Pragmatic Studio and consults through his company Dim Sum Thinking. When he's not coding or talking about coding for the Mac, the iPhone, and the iPad he's probably cooking or hanging out with his wife and daughter.

Technology/Platform: Ruby

Difficulty Level: Intermediate

Start Time: Wednesday January 11, 2012 @ 8:30 AM

Location: Orange

Abstract: There are now billions of lines of Java code running businesses across the globe. These systems, in varying states of disrepair, are held together and kept afloat by millions of Java developers worldwide. Many of these developers realize that they could be more efficient in their delivery. Delivery of software with a higher level of quality and lower level of maintenance than what they are currently dealing with. Unfortunately many of these developers do not know how to get started or even which direction to turn. It is not happenstance that much of the innovation with agile development in recent years has been led by frameworks and tools written in Ruby. The expressiveness, conciseness, power, and flexibility of Ruby are a strong lure for Java developers everywhere. The only question is, “How do I transition from Java to Ruby without quitting my job and risking my paycheck by working for the next lean startup?” Enter JRuby. Java and Ruby’s illegitimate love child allows many developers to find the language they are yearning for without forcing them to start over from scratch with a new Rails project. Existing systems can be migrated in an incremental and iterative fashion without the excessive business risk of full scale legacy migration. Areas of Java code that are stable, dependable, and frighteningly complex can be left alone or even improved by test characterization in Ruby. Areas of the Java code where Ruby excels can be migrated without fear of interoperability or complexity. Best of both worlds. Chocolate and peanut butter. This session will be 80% coding and 20% slideware. Developers will learn via pairing and coaching from the instructors. Topics to be covered are: Characterizing Existing Java with Cucumber Migrating Persistence Tiers to ActiveRecord Surgical Extraction of gnarly Java XML Free builds with Rake and Buildr How and Why to Integrate Java and Ruby Simpler SOA with Sinatra Automatic Deployment with Capistrano

Presented By: Todd Kaufman and Joe O'Brien

About the Speaker: Todd Kaufman has developed, coached, and managed software development teams in Java, Ruby and .NET. Regardless of platform, he is passionate about finding better ways of building systems with low ceremony and high quality. He has been known to occasionally run long distances and drink scotch, although not necessarily at the same time. Todd currently delivers outstanding software to his clients via Pillar Technology. Joe is a father, business owner, speaker and developer. In 2006 he co-founded EdgeCase, a leading Ruby and Ruby on Rails training and consulting company. They have had a tremendous amount of success helping companies as large as Ingersoll Rand, GAP and AT&T Interactive as well as those startups still in the inception stage. Through a partnership he has been giving training for well over three years on testing and development with Ruby on Rails. He is a speaker and has spoken at conferences ranging from RailsConf to numerous regional conferences and countless user groups.

Technology/Platform: Ruby

Difficulty Level: Intermediate

Start Time: Wednesday January 11, 2012 @ 8:30 AM

Location: Salon H

Abstract: The Ruby community has a serious problem. We have great projects, successful companies, big salaries, and too few developers. Will you join us? In this half-day session we'll work through the most important concepts of a Rails application, including: * Fundamental Ruby syntax * Rails' MVC Architecture * RESTful Design * Modeling the Database * Data Relationships * Forms and Data Processing If you want to sit back and listen, please find another room. Here we'll be working the whole time and you'll ship the application by the end of the session. AUDIENCE: This session is best suited to developers who either haven't tried Rails before or have followed tutorials without understanding what they built. We're assuming you're familiar with concepts like strings, arrays, hashes, methods, and objects. In addition, you should have a basic knowledge of HTML and a sprinkling of database design / SQL wouldn't hurt!

Presented By: Jeff Casimir

About the Speaker: Jeff Casimir has been writing Ruby and Rails applications since 2005 and started Jumpstart Lab in 2009. He currently travels the world teaching the best Ruby/Rails classes on earth.

Technology/Platform: Other

Difficulty Level: Beginner

Start Time: Wednesday January 11, 2012 @ 1:30 PM

Location: Salon F

Abstract: To paraphrase Mark Twain, "The reports of publishing's demise are greatly exaggerated." Despite the considerable pall seemingly draping the publishing industry these days, what we're actually witnessing the most exciting transformation since the printing press. If you've ever had an interest in publishing your IT knowledge, join Jason Gilmore and others for a look into three key facets of the IT publishing industry, including traditional and independent publishing. Jason Gilmore will kick things off with an introduction to the traditional and independent (self) publishing industries, explaining the process involved in taking a book from concept to completion in both instances. You'll learn all about the nuances of working with a traditional publisher, including contractual matters, how royalties actually work, and in what ways you can realistically expect to profit from writing a book. You'll also learn how to distribute your own books on popular platforms including the Kindle, Nook, iBooks, and Google Books. Along the way Jason will share experiences (both positive and negative) authoring, producing, publishing, and marketing several independently published books, sharing insight the Amazon Advantage sales channel, shipping logistics, and whether readers actually care about a polished work.

Presented By: Jason Gilmore

About the Speaker: W. Jason Gilmore is founder of W.J. Gilmore, LLC, a publishing, training, and consulting firm based out of Columbus, Ohio. In his previous role as Apress' open source editorial director, Jason led the development of more than 60 books, transforming Apress' open source line from near obscurity to one of the industry's most respected programs. He is the author of seven books, including the bestselling "Beginning PHP and MySQL: From Novice to Professional, Fourth Edition", "Easy PHP Websites with the Zend Framework". He has more than 150 articles within popular publications such as Linux Magazine, and is a regular contributor to Developer.com. Jason is a CodeMash (http://www.codemash.org) cofounder and speaker chair, a nonprofit organization tasked with hosting an annual namesake developer's conference, and was a member of the 2008 MySQL Conference speaker selection board.

Technology/Platform: Other

Difficulty Level: Intermediate

Start Time: Wednesday January 11, 2012 @ 8:30 AM

Location: Salon F

Abstract: While going independent isn't for everyone, breaking free from the confines of the cubicle farm and going out on your own can be one of the most satisfying things you do for your career. It can also be one of the most terrifying. With a decade as an independent consultant under his belt, Mike, along with several consultants and other professionals will help answer the most common questions people ask such as: "How do I get started?", "Where do I find clients?", "How much do I charge?" and many others. Come find out if the grass really is greener on the other side.

Presented By: Michael Eaton

About the Speaker: Michael Eaton is the founder of Validus Solutions, a custom software development and coaching company that specializes in leveraging client-based technologies. Validus has been developing solutions using Microsoft tools and technologies since 2001 and serves clients throughout the mid-west. Michael speaks throughout the United States at various regional events, user groups and conferences sharing his love of client development to other developers. He also spends time coaching and mentoring other developers. Michael runs the Kalamazoo X Conference and is a C# MVP. When not working on projects or spending time with his family, he treats his World of Warcraft addiction with ample doses of…World of Warcraft.

Technology/Platform: Other

Difficulty Level: Intermediate

Start Time: Wednesday January 11, 2012 @ 1:30 PM

Location: Salon G

Abstract: You’ve no doubt heard that before, or something like it. We’d guess that when you did, you got excited, rolled your eyes, or mouthed the word “why?” and furrowed your brow. Perhaps your reaction was a mix of all three. We wouldn't blame you for any of those reactions. HTML5 is exciting, and it does have the potential to change the Web as we know it, but it also gets blown out of proportion. What’s more, its true meaning can be elusive. It’s a broad topic, so it’s difficult to wrap your head around HTML5, much less know where to begin with this exciting new set of technologies. That's where our pre-compiler comes in. Over the course of a half-day, we (Brandon Satrom and Clark Sell) will tell you everything you need to know to get started with the next generation of open web technologies. We'll start with an overview of what HTML5 is, and why it matters, before moving quickly through major aspects of the core HTML5 specifications. Then, we'll discuss highlights of CSS3, major new JavaScript APIs and language features, before we end with a discussion on graceful degradation and adopting HTML5 without leaving older browsers behind. Throughout the day, we'll mix in hands-on exercises and labs so that you can leave with a working understanding of these technologies, and how you can begin to apply them immediately. This session is platform agnostic, so all you need to attend get your hands dirty is a text editor (like TextMate, Vim, e, Visual Studio or WebMatrix) and your favorite, modern browser to learn how to make the web shine.

Presented By: Brandon Satrom and Clark Sell

About the Speaker: Bios forthcoming

Technology/Platform: Other Languages

Difficulty Level: Intermediate

Start Time: Wednesday January 11, 2012 @ 1:30 PM

Location: Salon C

Abstract: Join your peers and fellow craftsmen in a variety of coding kata and exercises designed to improve your skills as software developers. Led by organizers of the Hudson Software Craftsmanship group, this interactive session will help you sharpen your tools and learn from others. Experienced developers from all backgrounds are welcome, as are beginners (who might consider attending the morning's Beginning Software Craftsmanship session, though it's not required). Attendees should already be comfortable with a programming language of their choice and if possible should bring along a laptop computer with their development tools installed, including a unit test tool. This session will focus on group design, refactoring, and application of design patterns to improve the design of existing software.

Presented By: Steve Smith & Brendan Enrick

About the Speaker: Steve is a Senior Architect with The Code Project, a Microsoft Regional Director, and a Microsoft MVP. He has been writing software professionally since 1997 and is one of the founders and organizers of the Hudson Software Craftsmanship group, which meets monthly in Hudson, Ohio. Steve is also a co-founder of NimblePros, an agile software consulting company located in Hudson, and Lake Quincy Media (now a part of The Code Project), which manages the largest advertising network dedicated to Microsoft developers. Steve lives in Kent, Ohio with his wife Michelle and their two children. You can find him online at http://SteveSmithBlog.com and on twitter at http://twitter.com/ardalis. Brendan is a Lead Developer with NimblePros, an agile software consulting company located in Hudson, Ohio. </br> Brendan is a Microsoft MVP whose expertise is in ASP.NET, and he is one of the founders and organizers of the Hudson Software Crafstmanship group, which meets monthly in Hudson, Ohio. He blogs at http://Brendan.Enrick.com/ and can be found on Twitter under the alias @brendoneus

Technology/Platform: Java

Difficulty Level: Intermediate

Start Time: Wednesday January 11, 2012 @ 8:30 AM

Location: Salon A

Abstract: Wonder what all the Cloud Computing hype is about? Want to know how to deploy a standard Java web application to the cloud and get limitless scalability? Well, this hands on tutorial will answer all your questions and provide confidence by walking you through the process of deploying a sophisticated Java web application to the Amazon Web Service (AWS) Cloud. During this tutorial you will provision clustered servers (EC2), relational database (EC2 and EBS), load balancer (Elastic Load Balancing), content delivery (Cloud Front) and how to monitor your whole infrastructure. Other Amazon Web Services will be demonstrated and discussed as appropriate.

Presented By: Chris Judd and Nathan Zender

About the Speaker: Christopher Judd is the president and primary consultant for Judd Solutions (http://www.juddsolutions.com), an international speaker, an open source evangelist, the Central Ohio Java Users Group (http://www.cojug.org) and Columbus iPhone Developer User Group leader, and the co-author of Beginning Groovy and Grails (Apress, 2008), Enterprise Java Development on a Budget (Apress, 2003) and Pro Eclipse JST (Apress, 2005) as well as the author of the children’s book “Bearable Moments”. He has spent 15 years architecting and developing software for Fortune 500 companies in various industries, including insurance, retail, government, manufacturing, service, and transportation. His current focus is on consulting, mentoring, and training with Java, Java EE, Groovy, Grails, Cloud Computing and mobile platforms like iPhone, Android, Java ME and mobile web. Nathan Zender is a Columbus-based independent consultant and code slinger who loves all things technology. Nathan's areas of expertise include web development with Groovy & Grails, Java, Javascript (jQuery is my second love), TDD and agile development. When not developing he spends his time with his wife (hint : this is my first love) and 2 dogs.

Technology/Platform: Other

Difficulty Level: Intermediate

Start Time: Wednesday January 11, 2012 @ 1:30 PM

Location: Aloeswood / Leopardwood

Abstract: While everyone's been busy giving iOS all the love, Mac OS X has been making big time changes. The Mac even has an app store too. In this session, iOS developers with any level of experience will discover what's different about developing for the Mac. The two platforms may be coming together as far as endusers are concerned but there are a lot of differences for developers. We'll cover automatic layout, autosaving documents, full-screen apps, bindings, two kinds of tables and more.=

Presented By: Chris Adamson & Daniel Steinberg

About the Speaker: Chris Adamson: Chris Adamson is an iOS and Mac developer, editor, and author, based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is the co-author of Core Audio (Addison-Wesley Professional) and iPhone SDK Development (Pragmatic Programmers), among others. He has several apps on the App Store, including the navigation app "Road Tip". He maintains a corporate identity as "Subsequently & Furthermore, Inc.", and has thus far owned 11½ Macs. <p>Daniel Steinberg: Daniel Steinberg has spent the last three decades programming the iPad, iPhone, and Mac OS X. OK, he hasn't. But he's been programming the iPhone and the iPad since the SDK's first appeared in beta and Mac OS X for many years before. Daniel is co-author of the book iPad Programming from the Pragmatic Programmers and author of their book Cocoa Programming. Daniel presents iPhone and Cocoa training for the Pragmatic Studio and consults through his company Dim Sum Thinking. When he's not coding or talking about coding for the Mac, the iPhone, and the iPad he's probably cooking or hanging out with his wife and daughter.

Technology/Platform: .NET

Difficulty Level: Intermediate

Start Time: Wednesday January 11, 2012 @ 1:30 PM

Location: Salon A

Abstract: You can hardly pick up a computer industry trade magazine without there being an article about cloud computing. Lots of people are talking about the cloud and it is likely your boss is thinking about it (whether you know it or not). However, many questions arise as soon as you begin to talk about the cloud. How do you get there? Does it even make sense for you? Should you move all of your applications to the cloud? If not, which ones? How do you even begin? This half-day session will address these questions by giving a brief introduction to Windows Azure - the Platform as a Service offering from Microsoft - and then, using hands-on-labs and real-world samples, dig into a practical approach to migrating your applications. The session will end with a discussion on scalability and practices you should consider as you look to make your move.

Presented By: Mike Wood and Rob Gillen

About the Speaker: Rob Gillen Rob is a research professional at Oak Ridge National Laboratory where he develops software solutions to help researchers materialize their ideas. As a developer and technologist specializing on the Microsoft stack with extensive experience in the hosting, services/application provisioning and SharePoint development, Rob brings a unique view to cloud computing and its applicability to everyday problems. When he finds something interesting to talk about, he will write about it at his blog at http://rob.gillenfamily.net. You can also follow him on twitter as @argodev. Mike Wood Mike Wood is a Solution Architect for Cumulux, Inc. He describes himself as a problem solving, outdoorsy, user group leading, dog-loving, blog writing, solution creating, event planning, married, technology speaking, father of one kind of guy. When he's not living up to that title he's an avid reader, (horrible) violinist and gamer. Mike is the instigator of the informal code pairing Bitslinger events in Cincinnati and a Microsoft MVP in Windows Azure. You can catch up with Mike on his blog at http://mvwood.com/blog and on twitter under the handle @mikewo.

Technology/Platform: Other

Difficulty Level: Beginner

Start Time: Wednesday January 11, 2012 @ 8:30 AM

Location: Salon D

Abstract: Are you tired of TDD workshops that make you do boring things like calculate bowling scores and prime factors or demonstrate how to win at the game of life? If so, this is the session for you! In this TDD workshop we will be building the domain model for EverCraft -- a new MMORPG from Blizzards of the Coast. We have lots of story cards prepared covering features from combat to magic, classes to spells, and races to items. Plus, we'll be defining some of these cards during the session in case you want that +9 knife of ogre slaying or enjoy casting magic missile at the darkness. This workshop is language agnotisic and for all levels of developers. The focus is on TDD and emergent design but pair programming will be covered as well. The only requirement is that you bring a laptop and that you be able to test-drive you code with your language of choice. When you are done you will emerge a better programmer for the experience but there is small chance you will have a craving for Cheetos and Mountain Dew.

Presented By: Guy Royse and George Walters

About the Speaker: Guy Royse Guy works for Nationwide Insurance Columbus, Ohio as an agile coach and software engineer. He has programmed in numerous languages -- many of them semi-colon delimited -- but has more recently been working with Ruby and JavaScript. He is also the chief organizer for the Columbus JavaScript User Group and is active in the local development community. In his personal life, Guy is a hard-boiled geek interested in role-playing games, science fiction, and technology. He also has a slightly less geeky interest in history and linguistics. In his spare time he volunteers as Cubmaster for his kids' local Cub Scout Pack. George Walters II During the daylight hours, George works as an application developer for Nationwide Insurance. With more than 10 years experience in application development, he has become an advocate for building clean, concise code without sacrificing the user experience. He builds applications in an agile environment using a variety of technologies including Java, Objective-C, JavaScript and Ruby. He is also a strong promoter for using Adaptive and Responsive Design in all aspects of web development and pushes the need for developers to become stronger and more affluent in the Web UI stack of technologies (HTML, CSS, JavaScript). After dark, well, that's a different story...

Technology/Platform: Ruby

Difficulty Level: Intermediate

Start Time: Wednesday January 11, 2012 @ 1:30 PM

Location: Salon B

Abstract: By now you have no doubt heard a few people singing the praises of Ruby and all the joy it brings to their lives. Perhaps you're are just wondering what all the fuss is about. Maybe you've heard about the ease of developing Rails applications. Or you might be ready to smack some of these happy people because your day job has you on Windows with no Ruby in your future. Fear not, there is much more to Ruby than just Rails, and it actually can play nice with Windows. Not only that, using Ruby on Windows is low-friction because many of the tools from Linux and OS X have been ported to the Windows platform. In this half day session we will install the 'classic' Ruby interpreter on Windows and we'll install JRuby and IronRuby, which will allow us to access Java and .Net code respectively. After we install the different flavors of Ruby, we will demonstrate the tools that will allow you to wield them them effectively. Then we will look into some of the frameworks that created the Ruby buzz, like Rake, Cucumber, and Watir. When you walk out of the precompiler session, you'll be able to install and run multiple Ruby interpreters, test your web applications regardless of the its platform, and automate tasks on your Windows OS. So bring your laptop and we'll give you another potent tool in your toolbelt. And no more Ruby envy.

Presented By: Tim Wingfield, Justin Searls, and Michael Kramer

About the Speaker: Justin Searls helps people find ways to write better software. As a member of the software community, he strives to lower developers' barrier of entry to writing well-crafted software that matters. Recently, he's been promoting sustainable web development by speaking on behavior-driven development in Ruby and JavaScript and maintaining a number of open source libraries to make testing more enjoyable (http://github.com/searls<http://github.com/searls/jasmine-maven-plugin>). Michael Joseph Kramer is a passionate software developer focusing on quality, testing, and agile practices. Michael has over 10 years of experience creating applications on a wide variety of platforms, and he has worked as both an IT professional and a consultant. He is a student of test-driven development, object-oriented design, and recently he has been digging into Node.js and JavaScript, CoffeeScript, and he is still trying not to spill the Ruby Kool-Aid all over his shirt. Tim is a Maker of Things and a Software Craftsman that has been involved in software design and development for over a decade. Tim has experiences in many technologies and languages including the .Net stack and has a budding love affair with Ruby for the testing tools and web frameworks it provides. Recently he has put more time into mentoring and coaching teams and practicing lean development processes to efficiently create quality software. In what time is left over, Tim enjoys coaching his sons' hockey teams, playing a little hockey himself, and traveling with his family.

Technology/Platform: Other

Difficulty Level: Beginner

Start Time: Wednesday January 11, 2012 @ 8:30 AM

Location: Salon E

Abstract: This practical and interactive workshop equips attendees to get started with Scrum or tune up existing implementations. Students get to practice using the Scrum framework in this scenario-based workshop while discovering how to implement Scrum effectively and keep their team practicing healthy behaviors. Who should attend the workshop? The workshop will benefit the entire development team, not just coders! Bringing a laptop is a big plus since attendees will actually make software during this workshop! This workshop is a subset of the official Scrum.org Professional Scrum Foundations class and is a great way for anyone to learn what Scrum is by experiencing it in a classroom environment.

Presented By: Alexei Govorine and David Starr

About the Speaker: David Starr is Chief Software Craftsman for Scrum.org where he focuses on improving the professional of software development. Additionally, David is a Microsoft ALM MVP, Pluralsight technical trainer, founder of ElegantCode.com, and an intensely curious developer. He frequently speaks at conferences the world over and has written extensively about agile software development. Alexei is Application Development Manager at Microsoft, Premier State and Local Government + Education. He advises Microsoft Premier customers on the efficient and productive use of the Microsoft technologies and tools with special focus on Team Foundation Server and Visual Studio. As a Professional Scrum Developer (PSD) Trainer he works with clients on improving and adopting all aspects of the Application Life-cycle Management. In his free time he spends mostly of the time to ensure that Harley (11+ years old black lab) is not bored by taking him to walks, vacations, and local pub/dining/shopping establishments. They are also involved with “Pets without Parents” a local no-kill nonprofit shelter for dogs and cats. You may find more about Harley by visiting: http://tinyurl.com/harley11

Technology/Platform: Other

Difficulty Level: Intermediate

Start Time: Wednesday January 11, 2012 @ 1:30 PM

Location: Cypress

Abstract: Been there. Done that. You don't want this t-shirt. We've all been told not to do something as we are likely to hurt ourselves only to ignore the advice, do it, and hurt ourselves. (See ages 2 - 10 of most boys.) Sometimes we really do need to learn things the hard way, but in software, the hard way can cost our employees or customers a lot of money. Charley and Adam have doing test automation for longer than they care to think about and have skinned their knees and stubbed their toes innumerable times. In this precompiler they share their automation injuries and how you can avoid them in your scripts. If you have ever said to yourself that automation shouldn't hurt this much or be this brittle then this is likely the session for you.

Presented By: Adam Goucher and Charley Baker

About the Speaker: Bio forthcoming

Technology/Platform: JavaScript

Difficulty Level: Intermediate

Start Time: Wednesday January 11, 2012 @ 8:30 AM

Location: Indigo Bay

Abstract: Extra, Extra! Read all about it! JavaScript: menace to society or Robin Hood, language of the people? JavaScript has been arrested on multiple charges for crimes against humanity! CodeMash 2012 will be the location for the world's first trial against JavaScript. Hear testimony from experts and key witnesses from the community as the facts of JavaScript's history and actions are recreated in excruciating detail. The Prosecution team faces off against the Developer Attorney General as they present their prospective cases for you, the jury, to help you make the ultimate decision in this contentious and polarizing case. You have been selected to serve as jury in this trial. You will be presented evidence from every angle in this compelling case. You will recreate famous crime scenes from locations in Browserland, Mobile Park and the seedy under belly of Cloud City with your fellow jurors. It's up to you to see every angle in this case, through its twists and turns, to see fact from fiction, in order to render a verdict in the Trial of the Century. --- Notes for attendees No JavaScript experience is needed but will help. Some programming experience in your language of choice is encouraged. This is a session for developers. Laptops are encouraged with at least a browser and one pre-compiled/configured JS interpreter (Spidermonkey and/or Node.js recommended). All other materials will be made available during the session.

Presented By: Leon Gersing & Scott Walker

About the Speaker: Leon Gersing (@rubybuddha) Leon has been bringing value to clients large and small for over ten years, and has a passion for technology, art and community. He has experience implementing solutions in C#, JavaScript (both server and client side), Ruby, Python, Objective-C, Ruby and Rails and more. Leon spends time presenting on a wide variety of development topics at events and user groups in the region. He loves nothing more than to be around other developers, working together to create something unique and fresh; something that has never been done before. He believes there is no challenge that can't be overcome with passion and creativity. He can be found tending binary zen gardens with fellow artisans at EdgeCase in Columbus and bringing great products to market with his own company, No Spoon Software. Scott Walker (@pragma_tech) Scott's experience with programming began as a child with QBasic when he grew tired of playing around with banana throwing gorillas, and snakes with an insatiable appetite for numbers, and decided to write his own games for fun. His interest in programming continued to stubbornly survive in the face of some decidedly awful pre-college computer education that would have scared a "normal" person away from ever touching a computer again. Scott got into the web before Geocities became all the rage by creating personal web sites for family and friends, as well as publishing an online magazine with his high school friends. From there he went on to get a degree in Computer Science from Virginia Tech Professionally, Scott has worked for clients in law enforcement, banking, manufacturing, product configuration, and quoting, using technologies as diverse as the obscure DIBOL language, C++, .NET, and Ruby. He worked for many years on the Microsoft technology stack before he fell in love with open source and began moonlighting on Rails projects. It was only a matter of time before he decided to throw off the static language shackles and embrace dynamic languages full-time. Scott has a passion for life-long learning, and loves sharing what he learns with others. He has spoken at several regional conferences and events, and has been featured on a podcast or two. He's also a life-long fitness devotee, self-described tea-snob, and the father of two wonderful children.

Technology/Platform: Other

Difficulty Level: Intermediate

Start Time: Wednesday January 11, 2012 @ 8:30 AM

Location: Salon G

Abstract: Scala is a language which is both functional and object-oriented. Running on the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), Scala appeals to developers who enjoy a concise powerful language with modern constructs. While programmers are often attracted to Scala for its productivity gains and reduction of boilerplate code, it's easy to become bewitched by the functional approach. Koans are small lessons on the path to enlightenment. The aim of the Scala Koans project is to provide an easy learning environment in Scala based on a test suite with tests that the developer must either update to work, or fix the implementations being tested such that they pass. Join us and learn more about this increasingly popular language. About the Scala Koans: Modeled after the Ruby Koans, the Scala Koans provide an interactive and fun way to learn the language. The Scala Koans were born at CodeMash 2010 by Dick Wall, and have been growing ever since. An early version of the Koans were presented by Dianne Marsh, Daniel Hinojosa, and Nilanjan Raychaudhuri as a workshop at CodeMash 2011 and by Dianne Marsh at the Java Posse Roundup in 2011. They were also presented by Dianne Marsh, Daniel Hinojosa, and Joel Neely at the StrangeLoop Conference in St. Louis in September 2011. Numerous others have contributed to the Scala Koans including Luke Amdor, Jeff Hoover, and Tim Taylor.

Presented By: Dianne Marsh and Daniel Hinojosa

About the Speaker: Daniel Hinojosa has been a self-employed developer, teacher and speaker for private business, education, and government since 1999. He also currently teaches programming at the University of New Mexico Continuing Education. His business is revolved around the Java ecosystem, encompassing multiple languages and frameworks. Daniel is a Pomodoro Technique practitioner and is co-founder of the Albuquerque Java User's Group in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Dianne Marsh, co-founder of SRT Solutions, has deeply rooted expertise in software programming and technology in a wide variety of industries including manufacturing, genomics, decision support and real-time processing applications. Dianne works with Unix, Windows, Java, C#, and C++ in enterprise-level applications. Her preferred programming language is currently Scala.

Technology/Platform: Other

Difficulty Level: Beginner

Start Time: Wednesday January 11, 2012 @ 1:30 PM

Location: Salon E

Abstract: User Story Workshop 13:30-14:20, 14:30-15:20 User Stories Foundations - Why User Stories - How User Stories Support the Agile Manifesto - What Are User Stories? - What Should User Stories Look Like? -- The Letter and Spirit of the Law -- Slices, Not Layers - Estimation and Planning - Product Backlog Management - Backlog Grooming - Sprint Planning 15:30-16:20 Hands-On Exercises - User Story Writing For this session, attendees will break into groups for some hands-on labs writing user stories. The group will go through a 10-minute stint of story-writing for each of the four example applications, each followed by a 5-minute discussion around the stories developed and any challenges/nuances presented by that particular type of application. During the sessions the facilitator walks around, interacting with groups to ensure that collaboration is happening and helping them should they find themselves "stuck" on a particular item. 16:30-17:30 User Stories Colloquy: Field Reports & Lessons Learned The Precompiler will conclude with a colloquy facilitated by the speaker. Some of the most meaningful interaction comes when the floor is opened up for conversation with those attempting to realize effective user stories in their setting. This is not a time for a group whine session, but rather a chance to share challenges and successes. Participants will also glean insight and tips from others striving to use this powerful, time-tested tool for Agile/Lean software requirements.

Presented By: Barry Hawkins

About the Speaker: Prior to his career in software, Barry spent 10 years designing, selling, and delivering turn-key industrial packaging and marking systems into manufacturing plants throughout the southeastern United States. He was responsible for the implementation, maintenance, and support of every system he sold, which was a formative experience that continues to influence his approach to consulting and coaching.

Technology/Platform: Other

Difficulty Level: Intermediate

Start Time: Wednesday January 11, 2012 @ 8:30 AM

Location: Cypress

Abstract: Testing is a fundamental part of the Agile process. We live and breath TDD/BDD. Red/Green/Refactor is our daily mantra. We love cucumber and writing executable customer readable specifications. We even write tests for our javascripts. And yet, testing remains hard. The tests we love to write are brittle and tend to break when we refactor. Although we talk about the tests being the specification of our code, too often the specify "how it's implemented" rather than "the expected behaviour". This workshop is about how to improve the way we do testing, how to move away from merely specifying how our software is implemented to capturing the true essence of how it should function. Topics include: Slow Tests Over Mocking Complex Object Builds Gratuitous Use of the Database Custom Assertions / Matchers Over Meta in Tests Testing Private Methods Correct use of Describe & Context Refactoring Tests Tests as Specifications <br/> <strong>PreRequisites:</strong> Participants in the Vital Testing workshop should come prepared with a laptop and some suitable programming environment in a language of their choice. The workshop is language agnostic, so C#, Java, Ruby, Clojure, or whatever is acceptable. Since the workshop is going to focus on testing, they should make sure a testing framework is available for their chosen environment. Any of the xUnit testing frameworks or equivalent (e.g. RSpec, Midje) will be fine.

Presented By: Jim Weirich

About the Speaker: Jim Weirich is the Chief Scientist for EdgeCase LLC, a Rails development firm located in Columbus Ohio. Jim has over thirty years of experience in software development. He has worked with real-time data systems for testing jet engines, networking software for information systems, and image processing software for the financial industry. Jim is active in the Ruby community and has contributed to several Ruby projects, including the Rake build system and the RubyGems package software.

Technology/Platform: Mobile

Difficulty Level: Intermediate

Start Time: Wednesday January 11, 2012 @ 1:30 PM

Location: Sage / Zebra

Abstract: In this 4 hour session, Jeff Blankenburg and Dave Bost will take you through many of the lessons you’ll need to learn in order to get up and running quickly as a Windows Phone developer. You’ll learn how to communicate with device sensors, manage page navigation effectively, and most importantly, how to navigate potential pitfalls in submitting your application to the Windows Phone Marketplace. Bring your app (or just your idea) and your laptop, and Jeff and Dave will help you get over any of the hurdles you are facing. Every attendee will also receive a copy of Jeff Blankenburg’s eBook: 31 Days of Mango, and there will also be other prizes and giveaways during this immersive precompiler. This session will be far more valuable to you if you install the Windows Phone Development Tools before arriving. You can download them from http://aka.ms/PhoneJB

Presented By: Jeff Blankenburg

About the Speaker: Jeff. Geek. Dad. Phone Guy. Hey You. These are all names that Jeff Blankenburg has been called in the last 15 minutes. His 12 years of web and mobile development experience led him to Microsoft, where he has had the privilege to speak to software developers all over the world. Jeff has published numerous mobile applications, as well as a book on writing apps. (He recommends that you buy both. Twice.) He will be happy to sign your copy of any book you have, written by him or not, lowering the value of the book significantly.