JPoint Witnesses: What Makes a Programmer Special?
Following the results of the JPoint 2015, we received a lot of feedback: both pleasant and filled with various criticisms - both constructive and not so much. Some participants spoke positively about the content of the reports, the selection of speakers and organizational issues, others criticized the queue for lunch and the small capacity of the main hall (some had to stand at the opening).
During the preparation of the JPoint 2016, we tried to take into account the recommendations and wishes of the participants of last year’s conference. On April 22-23, it will be possible to see what came out of all this. In the meantime, let's see why our participants love the JPoint, why some come to us year after year, while others tend to be speakers.
If you have been to conferences of various profiles, you probably noticed that the reports are divided into four blocks:
')
As a rule, the sensations from listening to such a zoo are mixed with annoyance, since only 20-25% of speeches turn out to be really useful - if other reports are useful, then in very small doses.
From year to year JPoint is focused on maximum hardcore - most of the reports are real stories from the daily professional life of our speakers. This is partly why our speakers often talk about the most complex and subdual moments of their report with vividness and humor - this is what a person who knows what he is talking about tells.
Experts and experienced participants of JPoint share our love for hardcore: Gregory Labzovsky , Director of Oracle Development Center in St. Petersburg, Alexey Akopyan , permanent participant of Russian Java conferences from EMC, Kirill Tolkachev , lead developer of Alpha Laboratory (@tolkv) and JPoint permanent participant, moderator. Developer Dmitry Beloborodov (@dbelob).
Gregory Labzovsky:
Alexey Akopyan:
Dmitry Beloborodov:
Kirill Tolkachev:
The JPoint conference is not a one-sided “speaker-listener” stream, it is a platform for exchanging opinions, discussions, peaceful discussions and heated debates, almost fighting. Discussions are held in the reports, and at round tables, and even during breaks and at lunch.
JPoint speaker is always a trained professional who is responsible for every word and is ready to share the maximum of his knowledge and professional secrets. But the JPoint listener is a trained participant with good experience and strong skills. They have something to talk about. That is why the communication of these professionals adds value to the conference, fills the atmosphere with professional communication.
Gregory Labzovsky:
Alexey Akopyan:
Dmitry Beloborodov explains in detail what is unique about the JPoint:
Kirill Tolkachev:
In 2015, the JPoint conference gathered 1,000 Java programmers. Each year, the conference brings together participants, most of whom are Senior- and Middle-developers, many of whom are enthusiasts who like to get to the core and prefer to get boring programming from ten to seven daily choices.
In 2016, the JPoint will last more than one day, as before, but two to two days of hardcore Java. Many participants, joining the conference online, decide to participate in it next year in person: “I will definitely come to the next conference in person. Thank you for a good conference. ” Every year we see more and more participants who have made such a decision. They clearly understand all the benefits of developing virtualization: this is communication, the opportunity to ask a question to a speaker, and finally, catch an expert by the sleeve during a break and ask him about the most exciting question of Java development.
Moreover, communication is not limited to attention to the speakers - by all means, interest groups are created that discuss important issues for themselves. And of course, the JPoint is an opportunity to make the right contacts and even find a new job. So you can not just find a group of like-minded people, but also get into your new dream team.
Experienced participants and experts point out the high value of the JPoint for networking.
Gregory Labzovsky:
Alexey Akopyan:
But what are the details of Dmitry Beloborodov :
Kirill Tolkachev:
Unlike the JPoint, at some conferences there is such a little stupid feeling - the awkward silence of the conference. It is usually felt closer to the end, when all the reports have been read, but there is still time left before the banquet or joint photo session, but there’s nothing to talk about.
Participants of the JPoint are unlikely to understand this - more than 30 reports of 50 minutes in 4 parallel halls and several round tables leave no chance for boredom. Even in the breaks, before and after the conference, the discussion continues, acquaintances are made, and here and there heated discussions are heard. Enthusiastic people work enthusiastically - they always have something to talk about.
Alexey Akopyan:
Dmitry Beloborodov:
Kirill Tolkachev:
With Java, numerous technologies have been created for such ambitious projects as Amazon, eBay, LinkedIn, Facebook, SAP, Goldman Sachs, etc. Java has already won the world once and continues its victorious march: Java finds its application in big data processing technologies, in the development of high-performance trading systems, in the scientific field, in natural language processing, and e-commerce. Our speakers work on projects in most of the listed areas and are aware of the most important nuances of handling Java, raise sharp and demanded questions: optimization, work in high-loaded applications, performance, multithreading, testing, DevOps, and so on.
Java remains the industry standard, with billions of lines of code written on it. The platform is developing, new projects are being launched on it. And in the near future there will be a new version - Java 9, there will be powerful changes . Their discussion - is this not a reason for new meetings?
Sometimes we are asked why we refused to discuss development issues for Android. It's simple: Android is a bit different Java. The features of the language are almost the same, but the virtual machine is different, the range of tasks is different, and the Java developer on Android does a completely different task than the developer of Java solutions for the bank.
What to hide, conferences are different both in structure and in value. How much and what the listener, the online viewer, the speaker will carry away from the conference, what experience they will receive, depends largely on the participant himself. First of all, you need to treat the event not as a day off, but as a job, an ultra-intensive course. Speakers' speeches at the JPoint are the quintessence of useful knowledge, which they present in an accessible form. The stories preceding the report are entire projects and years of work on a certain topic. In the course of working on each such task, all the same tools and tools that we use with you are used. And this means that the rakes, bugs and incidents that our speakers are talking about can happen to any of us. And vice versa - the solutions found by the speakers may suit many.
And to learn from the mistakes of others, as you know, is not only pleasant, but also extremely useful. Be as ready as possible to listen and hear, look at and see, answer and ask, explain and understand at the JPoint. And again, the experienced JPoint participants told us how to work at the conference in order to get out of there with the maximum professional result.
Gregory Labzovsky:
Alexey Akopyan:
Kirill Tolkachev:
Dmitry Beloborodov spoke in detail about how to survive at the JPoint . More precisely, he made a real manual.
In addition to technical reports, there will be 4 keyouts at the conference:
All keyouts, except the last, will not be directly related to Java programming, but we promise that they will not let you be bored. More about keynoats - in one of the nearest posts.
If you are interested and want to participate in the JPoint (full-time or online), then you can register by selecting and purchasing the type of tickets that suits you. By the way, this year the “Online-Corporate (up to 10 connections)” tariff appeared, which is convenient for large companies.
Each has its drawbacks, and there is a JPoint. Many refer to the disadvantages of paid. But is this a big payment, taking into account saving time on solving the most difficult tasks, useful acquaintances, consultations of the gurus and just two days of immersion in a professional atmosphere? Yet the most profitable investment is an investment in yourself.
So we are waiting for you at the JPoint!
During the preparation of the JPoint 2016, we tried to take into account the recommendations and wishes of the participants of last year’s conference. On April 22-23, it will be possible to see what came out of all this. In the meantime, let's see why our participants love the JPoint, why some come to us year after year, while others tend to be speakers.
Five reasons to love JPoint
Reason number 1. Practical value of the conference
If you have been to conferences of various profiles, you probably noticed that the reports are divided into four blocks:
')
- hardcore reports on the topic, with cases;
- practical reports based on the speaker’s experience. At the same time, it is often poorly understood what is in front of you for the speaker and why he is so remarkable that the organizers chose him.
- sponsorship reports with stories disguised as practical value about a new program, website, application, tool, etc .;
- reports newcomers.
As a rule, the sensations from listening to such a zoo are mixed with annoyance, since only 20-25% of speeches turn out to be really useful - if other reports are useful, then in very small doses.
From year to year JPoint is focused on maximum hardcore - most of the reports are real stories from the daily professional life of our speakers. This is partly why our speakers often talk about the most complex and subdual moments of their report with vividness and humor - this is what a person who knows what he is talking about tells.
Experts and experienced participants of JPoint share our love for hardcore: Gregory Labzovsky , Director of Oracle Development Center in St. Petersburg, Alexey Akopyan , permanent participant of Russian Java conferences from EMC, Kirill Tolkachev , lead developer of Alpha Laboratory (@tolkv) and JPoint permanent participant, moderator. Developer Dmitry Beloborodov (@dbelob).
Gregory Labzovsky:JPoint conferences are a meeting place for technology enthusiasts. People enthusiastic. This is not a commercial exhibition, and no commercial force dominates the event. Therefore, the conference is distinguished by the warm attitude of the participants to each other. This is a meeting of like-minded people. I value all this very positively. In addition, close interaction with the community brings to the surface the most interesting topics. Something like this: a very good event.
Alexey Akopyan:I’m very impressed with the approach of the conference organizers, in which they not only select the final reports from previously submitted, but actively and often work in advance with potential speakers, “lead” them through rehearsals, separate small reports, and sometimes even pay from their own pocket training on presentation skills for those who have valuable knowledge, but do not have much experience in public speaking.
Dmitry Beloborodov:
All speakers of the conference are highly qualified, reports are carefully selected. This year's JPoint conference will be held 2 days, in each of which the reports run in parallel in several tracks. Those. There are many reports; at any given moment, you can choose to view the report according to your own taste and interests.
Not all reports are characterized by a pronounced practical orientation of the information contained in them. Even in this case, it is interesting and accessible ideas, techniques, algorithms with a high degree of probability can be useful to students in their professional activities.
Kirill Tolkachev:As a person who visited two Moscow JPoint points and two Jokers, as well as other meetings and conferences from the same team, I have to admit that the guys really listen to feedback, sort out the problems that have arisen, which makes each new conference better. .
Reason number 2. Unique community of cool professionals
The JPoint conference is not a one-sided “speaker-listener” stream, it is a platform for exchanging opinions, discussions, peaceful discussions and heated debates, almost fighting. Discussions are held in the reports, and at round tables, and even during breaks and at lunch.
JPoint speaker is always a trained professional who is responsible for every word and is ready to share the maximum of his knowledge and professional secrets. But the JPoint listener is a trained participant with good experience and strong skills. They have something to talk about. That is why the communication of these professionals adds value to the conference, fills the atmosphere with professional communication.
Gregory Labzovsky:
Past events have always been interesting and multidirectional. There was always a place for different points of view. Listening to the discussion of people immersed in the subject is a pleasure. Of course, in some ways this event is limited to the near-Russian world of Java, to become an attractive platform for the entire leading Java public is the goal of the next years. [The advantages of the JPoint compared to other events], I repeat: independence, community participation, a friendly atmosphere.
Alexey Akopyan:
JPoint are made by professional programmers who understand the human needs at the “machine tool” and at the same time enthusiasts who know that knowledge needs to be spread. This combination makes every JPoint conference an event valuable to a very large number of people.
Dmitry Beloborodov explains in detail what is unique about the JPoint:
Currently, JPoint (along with Joker ) are the only regular Java conferences in Russia and the largest Russian-language conferences on this subject in the post-Soviet space.
The advantages of the JPoint conference are:
- The conference is not directly related to any particular company, i.e. not so-called "Vendor". For this reason, the purpose of the conference is not to promote the products of a particular company.
- There are various options for participation in the conference, including the possibility of online viewing.
- All reports are recorded on video. Conference attendees view video of all reports becomes available immediately after the end of the conference, all the rest - in a few months.
Kirill Tolkachev:
Every year you can notice something new, experimental. New report formats, new people of varying degrees of fame, new equipment that allows you to comfortably enjoy the report or its recording. The conference is developing and getting better, as are the people who attend it.
Reason number 3. Platform for the exchange of views
In 2015, the JPoint conference gathered 1,000 Java programmers. Each year, the conference brings together participants, most of whom are Senior- and Middle-developers, many of whom are enthusiasts who like to get to the core and prefer to get boring programming from ten to seven daily choices.
In 2016, the JPoint will last more than one day, as before, but two to two days of hardcore Java. Many participants, joining the conference online, decide to participate in it next year in person: “I will definitely come to the next conference in person. Thank you for a good conference. ” Every year we see more and more participants who have made such a decision. They clearly understand all the benefits of developing virtualization: this is communication, the opportunity to ask a question to a speaker, and finally, catch an expert by the sleeve during a break and ask him about the most exciting question of Java development.
Moreover, communication is not limited to attention to the speakers - by all means, interest groups are created that discuss important issues for themselves. And of course, the JPoint is an opportunity to make the right contacts and even find a new job. So you can not just find a group of like-minded people, but also get into your new dream team.
Experienced participants and experts point out the high value of the JPoint for networking.
Gregory Labzovsky:
Definitely, one of the most important features of conferences is the possibility of networking. And the JPoint is no exception. In any professional environment, being among the foremost specialists is perhaps the key component of success.
Alexey Akopyan:
At such events, there is always the opportunity to make new acquaintances, meet old friends and colleagues, and learn some news or their first-hand interpretation.
But what are the details of Dmitry Beloborodov :
The conference is attended by several dozen speakers and more than 1000 participants who have common interests - the Java programming language , subject areas and tools associated with it.
Conference participants can:
- talk and ask questions to speakers;
- talk to representatives of companies whose products they use on a daily basis (for example, JetBrains );
- if you wish, fill out questionnaires for recruiters of conference sponsoring companies (Odnoklassniki, Deutsche Bank, Luxoft, SberTech, etc.);
- exchange views and discuss the heard reports with other participants;
- learn news from former colleagues, meeting them at the conference;
- make friends with people of similar interests.
Conference speakers have the opportunity to:
- share interesting information with a wide audience;
- get feedback from listeners in the form of questions, evaluations and detailed comments to the reports;
- interest in their knowledge for further attraction to their courses (including those held before or after the conference);
- attract potential employees to the companies that the speakers represent.
Kirill Tolkachev:
Every year, the JPoint allows you to see steep specialists at arm's length, and this, for a minute, is people known all over the world and who have earned their status as various technical achievements. But only on this day they are all at your disposal, can you get acquainted with them, ask questions, or just knock over a glass or two for an acquaintance, making a funny selfie for memory. It is on this day that any developer lost all the complexes and he is able to get acquainted with Java Rock Stars!
Reason number 4. Busy, tight schedule
Unlike the JPoint, at some conferences there is such a little stupid feeling - the awkward silence of the conference. It is usually felt closer to the end, when all the reports have been read, but there is still time left before the banquet or joint photo session, but there’s nothing to talk about.
Participants of the JPoint are unlikely to understand this - more than 30 reports of 50 minutes in 4 parallel halls and several round tables leave no chance for boredom. Even in the breaks, before and after the conference, the discussion continues, acquaintances are made, and here and there heated discussions are heard. Enthusiastic people work enthusiastically - they always have something to talk about.
Alexey Akopyan:
Saturation (if we equally understand this term), in my opinion, is close to the maximum maximum - several tracks, each of which is of essential value. I know that some specially come together, in teams, in order to be able to assign their representatives to parallel reports.
Dmitry Beloborodov:
The conference team has been organizing such events for several years now. In addition to the JPoint and Joker Java conferences , they also do the .NET DotNext conference and the Mobius mobile development conference. They also regularly organize meetings of the Petersburg Java User Group ( JUG.ru ) and the CodeFreeze community.
All of the above is provided by the JPoint conference:
- The highest level of organization of the event: a convenient venue; comfortable conditions for viewing reports; lack of technical and organizational overlays; the ability to access presentations and videos of all reports; feedback from the organizers for the wishes, comments and evaluation reports.
- Highly qualified charismatic speakers with lots of interesting and diverse reports.
- An intelligent, prepared audience that complements the report with the right questions and creates a pleasant atmosphere at the conference for people with common interests.
Kirill Tolkachev:
I always liked the format of the conference. And the point is not that there are a lot of tracks, a lot of reports. The point is flexibility. There is always the opportunity not to go to the report, but to interest the right person on the coffee break and, forgetting everything, chat with him the entire report, making new acquaintances and solving issues with people who have the highest expertise in solving the issues you need.
Reason number 5. Only java, only hardcore
With Java, numerous technologies have been created for such ambitious projects as Amazon, eBay, LinkedIn, Facebook, SAP, Goldman Sachs, etc. Java has already won the world once and continues its victorious march: Java finds its application in big data processing technologies, in the development of high-performance trading systems, in the scientific field, in natural language processing, and e-commerce. Our speakers work on projects in most of the listed areas and are aware of the most important nuances of handling Java, raise sharp and demanded questions: optimization, work in high-loaded applications, performance, multithreading, testing, DevOps, and so on.
Java remains the industry standard, with billions of lines of code written on it. The platform is developing, new projects are being launched on it. And in the near future there will be a new version - Java 9, there will be powerful changes . Their discussion - is this not a reason for new meetings?
Sometimes we are asked why we refused to discuss development issues for Android. It's simple: Android is a bit different Java. The features of the language are almost the same, but the virtual machine is different, the range of tasks is different, and the Java developer on Android does a completely different task than the developer of Java solutions for the bank.
How to squeeze a maximum out of a JPoint
What to hide, conferences are different both in structure and in value. How much and what the listener, the online viewer, the speaker will carry away from the conference, what experience they will receive, depends largely on the participant himself. First of all, you need to treat the event not as a day off, but as a job, an ultra-intensive course. Speakers' speeches at the JPoint are the quintessence of useful knowledge, which they present in an accessible form. The stories preceding the report are entire projects and years of work on a certain topic. In the course of working on each such task, all the same tools and tools that we use with you are used. And this means that the rakes, bugs and incidents that our speakers are talking about can happen to any of us. And vice versa - the solutions found by the speakers may suit many.
And to learn from the mistakes of others, as you know, is not only pleasant, but also extremely useful. Be as ready as possible to listen and hear, look at and see, answer and ask, explain and understand at the JPoint. And again, the experienced JPoint participants told us how to work at the conference in order to get out of there with the maximum professional result.
Gregory Labzovsky:
I always advise not to be just a participant, but to try to become a speaker. We must always strive to achieve a goal. Participation as a rapporteur will bring maximum benefit. Therefore, I advise you to strive for this, even if it does not look justified at the moment.
Alexey Akopyan:
It probably depends on who wants to carry away what professional result from there. If this is to learn about some technology that has not been used before, then look, listen, and get acquainted with those already in the subject. If this is related to employment, then actively communicate on the stands with recruiters sponsors. If you have the opportunity to come with colleagues - highly recommended. It is also good to study the program in advance, but this advice is probably banal.
Kirill Tolkachev:
I will never forget the first time I saw the report of Barov Sadogursky "Groovy Puzzlers". Baruch showed that the report can be made as an informative lecture, as well as an interesting and memorable show. Of course, I remembered him, and a year later we already knew each other.
What now? And now I have the opportunity to make a report with Baruch. Yes, the JPoint allowed me to ask myself the right questions, answering which I was ready to come to him not as an ordinary participant, but as a speaker. If a few years ago I had imagined that I would be giving a report along with that cool guy from the stage, I would have just smiled. Today it is a reality and it is completely new emotions. JPoint is the conference that gives different experiences and opportunities for everyone, the only question is how we manage them.
Dmitry Beloborodov spoke in detail about how to survive at the JPoint . More precisely, he made a real manual.
Before participating in the conference:
- View the current list of reports . The list is constantly updated.
- After the appearance of an accurate program of reports with parallel tracks, select reports to be viewed during the conference.
- Organizers should send a letter with a request to share information about what reports you plan to visit. This information is needed to clarify the size of the rooms for specific reports. The grid of reports after this may be slightly adjusted.
- View video reports of previous conferences on the channel JUG.ru on YouTube . Most speakers have previously spoken at other events. Those interested in selected new reports on the JPoint may be a continuation or similar in scope to previous reports by the same or other speakers.
- Subscribe to Habrahabr to the blog of the company JUG.ru Group . Announcements of the conference have already been published in it, news is published, and in the series of interviews “Without Slides,” Alexei Fyodorov interviews, including and the JPoint speakers.
- Subscribe to the @JUGru twitter account and # jpoint hashtag to track news about the upcoming conference.
- Listen to the conference releases of the following podcasts:
a. Debriefing (four of his co-hosts - JPoint speakers) - Issue 100 , Issue 99 , Issue 98 ;
b. The Art Of Programming - Issue 106 , Issue 104 , Issue 102 , Issue 100 .
During the conference:
- Do not be late for the beginning of the conference - non-technical interesting warming reports are the "highlight" of the conference.
- If you plan to write a review of the conference, it is recommended to take a camera. The quality of smartphones cameras is not enough to publish, for example, on Habrahabr.
- Before the conference, make sure that the grid of reports has not changed unexpectedly. If this happens, adjust the list and procedure for visiting reports.
- If the venue of the conference is not familiar, study the layout of the halls for quickly moving from one report to another, coffee breaks, lunch.
- Feel free to ask questions to speakers. Relevant, interesting questions complement the report well and are useful both for the audience and for the speaker.
After the conference:
- If you have the desire and opportunity to write a review about the conference - do it. It is advisable to illustrate a review with photos taken at the conference. The best place to publish a review is Habrahabr.
- View the # jpoint hashtag on Twitter for feedback from conference participants.
- Rate the reports of the conference on the sent link in a letter from the organizers of the conference.
- After a while, a review “Video of the best presentations of the JPoint 2016 Java conference” should appear on Habrahabr, which will help you choose the following videos for viewing.
- Share impressions about the conference with friends and colleagues. If you like the conference, do not hesitate to recommend it to others. "
In addition to technical reports, there will be 4 keyouts at the conference:
- Evgenia Timonov from “Everything is just like animals”
- Tim berglund
- Maxim Dorofeev
- "Debriefing"
All keyouts, except the last, will not be directly related to Java programming, but we promise that they will not let you be bored. More about keynoats - in one of the nearest posts.
If you are interested and want to participate in the JPoint (full-time or online), then you can register by selecting and purchasing the type of tickets that suits you. By the way, this year the “Online-Corporate (up to 10 connections)” tariff appeared, which is convenient for large companies.
Each has its drawbacks, and there is a JPoint. Many refer to the disadvantages of paid. But is this a big payment, taking into account saving time on solving the most difficult tasks, useful acquaintances, consultations of the gurus and just two days of immersion in a professional atmosphere? Yet the most profitable investment is an investment in yourself.
So we are waiting for you at the JPoint!
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/279417/
All Articles