Another look on tech

My thoughts on tech.

My experience during DDD Europe 2020

10 February 2020

First blog of the year. And I decided to blog about my experience during DDD Europe 2020. Is there anything better? :)

I want to share my experience during the event, as well, some trends.

Design Heuristics pre-conference workshop

This year the conference started a little bit earlier for me. I joined the Design Heuristics from Rebecca Wirfs-Brock. We deep dive into design heuristics, from practical examples, out own heuristics and some theory. It had the right balance between all the components, and I started my journey to collect heuristics. As a result, I created a GitHub project for the heuristics that I will collect from now on. It is a useful technique to put the decision into perspective. Context is the queen!

The conference

My main observation goes into the cross-community talks. I observed a convergence from different communities towards Domain-Driven Design, where we avoid to discuss tools, but rather embrace and discuss techniques. I find it valuable and a cornerstone of our community. I’m also happy that other communities join to share the learnings.

The conference has some field stories; people share the experiences, pitfalls and successes. I believe that the conference could have a bit more on this side. On a positive note, the conference organisers are able to create a balance for well-known names in the industry, with people that are sharing for the first time in a conference with this size. Kudos for the organisation!

Regarding content, I see a few topics emerging:

  • Socio-technical thinking, where several speakers presented their views. I believe that we will have examples of the industry in this field
  • Visual collaboration, embracing techniques from other communities that can enhance the software engineering teams experience. Namely, I observed a trend with Wardley Maps
  • Collaboration techniques, such as Mob Programming. The method is an example of the collaboration techniques and had the spotlight
  • Event sourcing, as the primary architectural pattern, to support a dynamic environment. It had a day dedicated to the topic, where the community joined

The conference also had a variety of hands-on sessions, where the organisation cap the number of attends. It was crucial for the quality of the session. Also, space for lighting talks, where people could sign-up on the spot. The conference offered the un-conference side.

Overall, I had another great week. The vibe from the community is impressive, and it was another learning opportunity. I am looking forward to the next edition!