My highlights of DDD East Midlands 2021
Hey all, I spent the day at DDD East Midlands 2021 and these were the most interesting talks.
Design for Developers by Lex Lofthouse. I wanted to see this talk because I've done some front end projects here and there and thought it would be helpful with those projects in the future. She went through a list of design principles and gave examples of what to do. I found it very insightful. She will be releasing the slides soon.
Senior by Default by Stephen Jackson. Interesting short talk about how he found himself suddenly promoted and his experiences learning to be a lead developer on the job.
Why do we need a Black Valley by Leke Sholuade. He demonstrated perfectly why with a picture that showed two comparisons - one tilted "Equality" where 3 generations of people are standing on one box each but the youngest can't see over the fence to see the football game and then "Equity" where the tallest no longer has the box but the youngest is now standing on two boxes and can see over the fence. Sometimes we need to take action to accelerate and improve chances so everyone can get in the game. You can find out more on Black Valley mentoring and job listings here.
How to ruin a kid's games with machine learning by Jennifer Mackown. A lesson in how sometimes you can't beat kids at board games using machine learning.
3D printed Bionic Hand a little IOT and an Xamarin Mobile App by Clifford Agius. This replaced an original talk that couldn't take place but ended up being my favourite talk of the day! Fascinating to hear about how a 3D printed hand was made for a child at such a reduced price and he could even use it to play XBox and customise it as he grows and muscles improve with use. I found a 9 month old YouTube video of the same talk here.
SOLID Principles in 5 Nightmares by Simon Painter. An interesting talk through SOLID using StarWars as a way to explain them. In completely separate example, this chap replied to a question how to explain the principles to a child.
I look forward to next year!