Monday, April 4, 2011

1,000 Attendees!

A big thank you to those of you who came to my sessions at the Desert Code Camp this weekend.  I had a great time, and it was good to see some of you back in my sessions again.  You helped me pass the 1,000 mark -- over 1,000 people have come to my sessions since I started speaking publicly in January 2010 (although I know it is fewer than 1,000 unique people since some of you have come to more than one of my sessions).

Here's a breakdown of my speaking engagements:

Jan 2010 - So Cal Code Camp - Fullerton, CA
135 attendees (3 sessions)

Feb 2010 - Disney .NET Developers Group - Burbank, CA
30 attendees

Jun 2010 - So Cal Code Camp - San Diego, CA
59 attendees (3 sessions)

Jul 2010 - LA C# User Group - Manhattan Beach, CA
20 attendees

Jul 2010 - So Cal .NET Developers Group - Buena Park, CA
25 attendees

Oct 2010 - ASP.NET SIG - San Diego, CA
30 attendees

Oct 2010 - So Cal Code Camp - Los Angeles, CA
339 attendees (8 sessions)

Nov 2010 - Desert Code Camp - Chandler, AZ
77 attendees (3 sessions)

Jan 2011 - Inland Empire .NET User's Group - San Bernardino, CA
20 attendees

Jan 2011 - Disney .NET Developers Group - Burbank, CA
30 attendees

Jan 2011 - So Cal Code Camp - Fullerton, CA
145 attendees (3 sessions)

Feb 2011 - Disney .NET Developers Group - Burbank, CA
38 attendees

Feb 2011 - San Gabriel Valley .NET Developers Group - Monrovia, CA
20 attendees

Apr 2011 - Desert Code Camp, Chandler AZ
63 attendees (3 sessions)

Grand Total: 1,036!

I've had a great time speaking.  Hopefully you've had a great time listening.  If you'd like to have me come to your user group or other event, just drop me a note.  As a reminder, if you've come to one of my sessions, you can download the session materials from my website: http://www.jeremybytes.com/Demos.aspx.

Happy Coding!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Desert Code Camp - April 2nd

Desert Code Camp in Chandler, Arizona is coming up quickly (Saturday, April 2, 2011).  If you are in the Phoenix area -- or simply need an excuse to go for a road trip -- it's a great way to spend the day.  I was able to attend last October, and I'm looking forward to going back again. 

Talk to your fellow developers, get some free training, and make some great contacts.  There are over 100 sessions on the schedule including a track just for kids.

Desert Code Camp 2011.1
April 2, 2011
Chandler, AZ

Hope to see you there!

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Additional Links for Design Patterns

I've had some folks who have attended my Design Patterns session suggest some links that they have found useful.  (And if you want to check out the session materials, just go to my website: Learn the Lingo: Design Patterns.)

Head First Labs - Head First Design Patterns
http://headfirstlabs.com/books/hfdp/
This is the link for the "Head First Design Patterns" book that I've recommended.  And there's some really good news.  I noted that the book is written with Java samples, but that it's not too hard for a C# developer to follow along.  The good news is that the labs includes a link to a collection of C# samples.  Just search for "C#" on the labs page, and you should find it.

Head First Design Patterns Study Group
http://onjava.com/pub/a/onjava/2005/04/06/designpatterns.html
The O'Reilly On Java website has suggestions on forming your own study group based on Head First Design Patterns.  I've heard from some folks who have done this, and they found that it was a good learning experience for everyone involved.  Discussion with other developers usually leads to new insights for everyone.

Do Factory - Design Pattern Framework 4
http://dofactory.com/Default.aspx
This site sells a product called Design Pattern Framework 4.  As a disclaimer, I have not actually used this product, nor do I really know much about this.  But I have received recommendations from session attendees, so it may be something worth looking into further.  In going through the information, there is also an endorsement from Miguel Castro (who is one of the big players in the .NET community), so that leads me into wanting to look at this a little more closely.

If you've had experiences with either the Head First Design Patterns study group or using the Design Pattern Framework 4, please drop me a line and let me know what you think.

Happy Coding!

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Upcoming Speaking Engagements

I have a couple of speaking engagements scheduled in February.  Feel free to come out if you can.

Feburary 15, 2011
Disney .NET Developers Group - Burbank, CA
Web cast available.  Disney employees and Cast Members can check TechSpot for details.

February 16, 2011
San Gabriel Valley .NET Developers Group - Monrovia, CA
http://sgvdotnet.org/

Also, it looks like I'll be heading back to the Desert Code Camp on April 2, 2011 in Chandler, AZ.  More information here: http://apr2011.desertcodecamp.com/

Hope to see you there!  And if you have a user group or other event you'd like me to come speak at, just drop me a line and let me know: feedback@jeremybytes.com.

Happy Coding!

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Thank You for Coming!

I want to thank everyone who attended one of my sessions at the SoCal Code Camp this past weekend (and even those of you who were brave enough to attend more than one of my sessions).  As a reminder, the Walkthroughs, Slides, and Code Samples are all available for download: http://www.jeremybytes.com/Demos.aspx.

If you have any questions, suggestions, or even session topics you'd like to see me present in the future, feel free to drop me a line at feedback@jeremybytes.com.

Until next time...

Happy Coding!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Mini Review: Code - The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software

I recently finished reading Code: the Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software by Charles Petzold.  Here are a few quick thoughts:

This is not really a programming book; it is a description of how computers work. Designed for the layman, it starts off with the basics of codes (Morse Code, Braille, binary codes) and then moves on to how to communicate those codes using electro-mechanical relays (such as telegraph relays). From there, it talks about how these relays can be combined in various ways to create logical operations and built up to a simple adder -- the basic building block of computer hardware. The components are pieced together from the earliest computers to modern machines (well, almost modern -- the book was written in 1999). As a non-CS major, I found this book to be very approachable and it gave me a good understanding of how software can be turned into instructions for the hardware.

Overall, this was an interesting read.  For me, it went quite quickly (just a few weeks in small chunks), and I have a better feel for how computer hardware works at its most basic level.

Happy Coding!

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Update: Learn to Love Lambdas

Lambda Expressions have turned out to be a popular topic (I've got three presentations scheduled for January alone).  With that in mind, I have expanded the Learn to Love Lambdas walkthrough and demo code.

Get It Here
You can get the complete walkthrough (18 pages) and code samples here:
http://www.jeremybytes.com/Demos.aspx#LLL

Direct Links:
PDF Walkthrough
Code Download

Happy Coding!