Boise Code Camp 2024
Ah, the buzz and excitement of BoiseCodeCamp 2024, a long-awaited revival after the tumble and churn of the pandemic years.
Picture this: a congregation of eager minds, a hundred strong, converging upon the BoiseCodeWorks campus. Hosted by the Boise Software Developers Group, this year’s CodeCamp was a testament to the spirit of resurgence, a phoenix rising from the ashes of uncertainty.
It was a modest affair, with just a smattering of attendees, a handful of speakers, and a sprinkle of organizations. But therein lies its charm! There’s an intimacy, a closeness that permeates the air, fostering connections and kindling inspiration.
Talks I attended
Now, let’s talk talks. At least the ones I was able to attend. There was an eclectic mix of ideas and insights filling BoiseCodeWorks! From the electrifying keynote by Scott Nichols delving into the omnipresence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Tsun Mok’s journey into the realm of Open SCAD 3D Modeling, and Gregg Irwin’s illuminating exploration of Domain-Specific Languages. Each session was a tapestry of knowledge and passion, woven by masters of their craft. While the majority of the talks weren’t recorded this year, the ones I got to attend were lovely.
Scott reviewed some of the current AI offerings (like GitHub Copilot!) and the common Large Language Models (LLMs) in use today. He also mentioned how this is stuff we need to know as engineers. AI isn’t necessarily going to replace our jobs, but it is likely to significantly augment them. The engineers that integrate AI into their workflow are going to be the ones that are more productive, and thus more employable in the future.
Tsun has presented at BoiseCodeCamp in the past and presented a great overview of how Open SCAD works. It’s a super easy-to-use open source library for 3D Modeling that is driven by code, making it very easy for developers to pick up!
Gregg had a very interesting talk on Domain-Specific Languages. These are languages designed to be small in scope and support a specific domain. Think things like SQL or RegEx. They tend to be declarative (meaning you tell them what you want, not how to do it). Keeping the scope narrow tends to make them safer for users to use. Gregg himself works on the Red language, and he had a demo of how Red works which was fun to see!
Speaking
And speaking of speaking, this year marked my debut on the BoiseCodeCamp stage. The first code camp I went to was in 2017. At that time I was still considering a switch into software development and truly had no clue what most people were saying at the conference. However I decided then that once I had enough knowledge about something to talk about it that I would do a talk at BoiseCodeCamp. And I did! Bucket list item achieved.
I did my talk this year on web accessibility. It was an intro-level talk focusing on the basics of accessibility and some things to think about as a developer that is responsible for it. There’s a GitHub repo with my notes and demo here, and I plan to write up a more detailed post describing the demo in the future, which I will link here once it happens.
I had a lot of fun prepping for the talk. It required me to learn more deeply about accessibility than I likely would have otherwise. It also meant I got to attend the speaker meet-and-greet the day before the event, which was an awesome opportunity to get to know the other speakers! I have since put together a list of some potential topics and conferences that I want to submit proposals for next year, and I’m hoping I’ll have more speaking opportunities to talk about in the future!
Until next year
But it wasn’t all about the talks. It was about the connections forged over shared passions. Finding like-minded folks in the Boise area that are interested in nerding out with you.
Until next time, BoiseCodeCamp. Keep on inspiring.