Seattle Code Camp: A Place for Learners

To be a software developer is to be a constant learner. The amount of information that you need to know as a developer is always growing and always changing.

Learning can happen in many places by seemingly endless methods. One of the best ways to learn is through sharing information through personal interaction. A lot of that kind of learning—and teaching—went on at Seattle Code Camp.

"It wasn't what I was expecting," said Andy Lientz, Smartsheet Senior Vice President of Engineering, about attending his first Seattle Code Camp. "I thought it was going to be more of a bootcamp, but the format was much better. There was a great cross-section of technologies and different backgrounds."

The single-day conference provided 63 sessions of development-related content. Each hour, the over 600 attendees had nine different talks to choose from, ranging in topics from Docker to TypeScript to Azure to Anti-Patterns—only to name a few. There seemed to be topics for just about any type of developer who wanted to learn.

The Seattle University Pigott Building served as the setting for Seattle Code Camp. The location provided a great educational atmosphere. Each of the sessions was held in the building's classrooms and auditorium. Most rooms held between 25-50 seats, which fostered an intimate learning atmosphere.

The day provided learning experiences not only for the attendees but the speakers as well. One of the best ways to learn is to teach. And the event provided a platform for 46 different speakers to get in front of their peers and teach what they have learned. There was a good mix of veteran speakers—who have traveled the world discussing software topics—and those who were giving talks for the first time.

Smartsheet was on the scene as a sponsor to provide some swag as well as some knowledge, not to mention search for some more excellent engineers—have we mentioned we're hiring?

Four members of our Engineering organization gave a combined seven talks, including Ted Neward, our Director of Developer Relations.

"One of the things I enjoy about speaking at Code Camps is that they are by the community for the community," Ted said. "It gives speakers a chance to give talks on some real close-to-the-heart topics."

All in all, Seattle Code Camp is an event you don't want to miss if you consider yourself a software development learner.