Presentation: "Software Craftsmanship, Beyond The Hype"

Time: Wednesday 16:30 - 17:30

Location: St. James's Suite

Abstract:

Software Craftsmanship is prevalent throughout the various software development communities and industries. However, opinions about and definitions of the term abound, both positive and negative, resulting in a confusing cacophony of voices to those trying to understand it. With such an explosive growth, it is sometimes hard to see through the hype.

Over the past year, I've traveled far and wide, discussing software craftsmanship with a diverse range of of people, hearing different thoughts on what it all means. While there are varying ideas on 'software craftsmanship', there is one recurring fundamental theme that stands out: helping developers improve their skills as individuals and as members of their community.

In this talk, I'll cut through the hype and present an approach to the 'craftsmanship' analogy that can help guide us through our life journey in software development. More than just arm-waving, I will outline some of the concrete activities that some members of the Software Craftsmanship Movement are taking to help 'raise the bar,' both individually and as businesses.

Keywords:Software Craftsmanship

Target Audience:Software developers who have heard the talk and are looking for how to walk the walk.

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Corey Haines, Software Journeyman

 Corey  Haines

Corey Haines has spent much of his 13+-year professional career in the Microsoft ecosystem, until moving out of the corporate world and joining a small startup doing Ruby on Rails. After leaving the startup in 2008, he began a year-long journey, traveling the midwest and east coast on a pair-programming tour, spending anywhere from a day to a week at different places, pairing with people in exchange for room and board. While on the road, he has also focused on expanding and defining the message of the Software Craftsmanship movement, as it pertains to both professionalism and career development.

Corey has been actively engaged in practicing the Extreme Programming techniques for nearly 6 years. He has been actively following the Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) techniques since the first rumblings of it in 2005. Lately, he has been actively mentoring others in the BDD workflow, as it pertains to day-to-day engineering practices, such as TDD and executable acceptance criteria.

Nowadays, Corey is focused on collecting ideas for establishing a craftsmanship-based school of software development in the next 3-5 years.