We Are Developers 2019: What did we learn?
Written by M.B.
Installing my feet in Vienna. Jira notification winking from the corner of my phone. New task created by PR manager: get a cute selfie for social networks, xoxo. Create a temp variable, assign it with belief that it all serves some higher purpose; making the world a better place. Smile, blink-blink, #weGetITDone. Cold wind gently pops to my hair while trying to catch the U-Bahn, Viennese trademark.
My first solo trip. My second time in Vienna. My first time at We Are Developers conference. What did I learn?
Nugget1: Bravery is a good design practice
How much jitters cost standing in front of a few hundred people at one of the largest tech events in the world? Add teen years to that calculation. Spice it with Quantum Computing on agenda. Alexandra Waldherr dared to take a challenge. Sincere passion towards science, willingness to trigger change combined with pure enthusiasm to share it with others, have shown to be a simple recipe to fill us with pride and humbleness. With teenagers like Alexandra, future is bright, qubit-bright.
Nugget 2: Be your own cutting edge. It’s a new black
It can be simple as staying loyal to the accent of your first language when talking about machine learning in front of international audience. Maybe getting to choose to share personal experience of building a software infrastructure, evil production bugs and that spaghetti code made of coffee bricks and nothing else. To summarize all the times you failed, before you finally learnt. Or embracing inner drive to make things happen, to build technologies that improve people’s lives instead the ones that only bring profit.
Copy/paste do not make an engineer, seek authenticity, and choose to bring value.
Nugget 3: Junior bliss is not a bug. But fix skills
We Are Developers conference offered multiple lectures, skillfull lecturers, vibrant topics. The best part of it was realising how much more there is to know, how modest our knowledge trully is and the infinity of possibilities. Like a fresh installation of new operating system. History records organized and easily accessible, but a lot of new room for storage. Always cherish beginner’s mindset. It keeps cognitive skills sharp, learning process easier and every transition smooth.
Nugget 4: Bad AI go home, you are drunk
Can AI win the battle against fake news ? Are AI detectives capable of dealing with children pornography crimes? On top of all, how to stay safe in AI future? These are just a few among millions of questions and dilemmas raised. First step is made, bringing awareness. If we all give little, we won’t need super heroes assistance in this fight against evil.
Nugget 5: 418 — I’m a teapot, but we can grab a coffee on the corner
I have to admit, I was really tough on this matter. With more than enough coffee spots and mobile app coffee remainders, attention was seriously caught. Furthermore, striking number of coffee lovers from all over the world willing to share the charm of their tech background, within the beautiful surroundings of Hofburg palace, needless to stay that they had me on first impression. And we all know that you never get a second chance for first impression.
Story of We Are Developers conference was wrapped beautifully into a metaphor: On the grounds of an old, the new was taught. Organizers did a great job. Vienna was charming as usual. While I passed my first solo trip with flying colors.
Until the next year, Auf Wiedersehen!
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