[vwnc] A programming conference made for you

Do you want to know how Object-oriented programming was originated? Would you like to personally meet one of those crazy people who revolutionized the computing world in Xerox Parc together with the Turing Award Alan Kay in the 70’s? Then you must come to Smalltalks 2009 and attend Dan Ingalls’ talk ‘40 years of Fun with Computers’ and the Q&A session ‘A fireside chat with Dan Ingalls’.

Do you want to know what’s the latest trend in object oriented research? Then you must come to Smalltalks 2009 and attend Stephane Ducasse’s presentation ‘I have a dream... let’s make it come true’; and Alex Warth’s ‘Implementing programming languages for fun and profit with OMeta’.

Are you interested in understanding a little bit more about metaprogramming and what it’s used for? Do you want to understand what it means that an environment is ‘Metacircular’?  You don’t feel at home with multiple inheritance? Do you think that Java or .Net interfaces are not enough? Do you feel iffy about mix-ins and think that there’s got to be a better way to share code? Then you must come to Smalltalks 2009 and attend Jorge Ressia’s ‘Glamour’ and ‘Helvetia’, and also Diego Geffner’s ‘Improving Smalltalk development tools’.

Have you ever wondered how an object database works and how different it is from a relational database – are they faster or slower? I don’t want to sound repetitive but I just can’t help it: You must come to Smalltalks 2009!!! James Foster will give ‘Introduction to GemStone’ and a one-day tutorial dedicated to this topic. You cannot miss it!.

Have you ever wondered if it is possible to control hardware in real time with objects and a dynamic languages? Hmmm…So there’s no way out but to attend Smalltaks 2009 and check out Gonzalo Zabala’s talk on ‘Physical EToys’ and Andres Otaduy’s on ‘Rul@ System”.

Are you doubtful about the possibility of designing and writing good genetic algorithms or mathematical models with objects? If math is your thing you must come to Smalltalks 2009 and attend Maximiliano Tabacman’s talk on ‘Genetic Algorithm Framework’ and Leandro Caniglia’s on ‘Homological Algebra in Smalltalk’.

Are you interested in getting familiar with the implementation details of an object-oriented Virtual Machine or knowing how safe they are? hehe, we also have two talks in store for you! ‘Virtual Machine, Invisible Machine’ by Andrés Valloud (programmer of the fastest Smalltalk VM in existence) and ‘Security on JIT VMs’ by Gerardo Richarte (a leading security – or insecurity? – expert)

Are you oriented toward software quality? Do you feel that TDD and agility rules? Again... I don’t mean to drag on it but you’ve got to come to Smalltalks 2009! and check out Tim Mackinnon’s talk on ‘Agile Planning’ and ‘Expressive Testing’ and also Nicolas Chillo and Gabriel Burnstein’s on ‘Mutation Testing’.

Are you tired of stopping and restarting your web application every time you modify it? Do you think that there’s got to be a simpler way to do it? Are you done with recompiling your Java application or your ObjectiveC to be able to see a little change you’ve made in your iPhone application? You must come to Smalltalks 2009 and attend German Arduinos’ talk on ‘SWT’, Santiago Robles and Lautaro Fernández’  ‘Meteorid: A real MVC for the Web’ and Esteban Lorenzano’s talk ‘Smalltalk in the pocket: Building applications for the iPhone’.

Or maybe you are not into talks, you get drowsy when you listen to people talking all day long, you feel good when it comes to action, to coding, building real things and contribute them with the community? Or perhaps you’ve always heard about Smalltalk but never had the time or the support to get started... hmm…I don’t know... you can come to Smalltalks 2009 on Saturday and participate in the Pharo Sprint! An all-day programming session meant to improve and expand Pharo, an open-source Smalltalk.

Have you been told – and did you believe – that dynamic languages are no good when it comes to developing large applications, or that Smalltalk is only used for teaching at universities? Well, you’d better attend Smalltalks 2009 and check out Maximiliano Tabacman’s ‘XTrade – Risk and Yield Analysis’, Félix  Madrir’s ‘Expecco’ and José Bretti’s ‘iBizLog’.

Are User interfaces, 3D graphics etc. your choice? We also have a treat for you... Adrian Soma’s ‘A visual environment to develop software’, Juan Vuletich’s ‘Cuis and Morphic 3’, Andres Fortier’s ‘Developing a 3D Engine: A Neophyte’s Experience’ and Travis Griggs’ ‘#{Open.Source.Graphics} bindTo: {Cincom.Smalltalk}’.

Do you feel it’s time to get an iPod? Do you want to give a digital camera to your girlfriend/boyfriend or your mom?...Easy, just join Smalltalks programming contest, you’ll have a blast…and if you don’t win anything or you didn’t make it, you can attend Carlos Ferro’s (programmer of the contest) talk ‘Smalltalks 2009 Coding Contest’ in which he’ll explain how it was developed.

And if you’re teaching object-oriented programming and want to collect some info, teaching materials, or you are feeling like sharing your experiences and your doubts with other teachers, you must come to Smalltalks 2009 and check out Nicolás Páez ‘Teaching Object-Oriented Programming with Smalltalk, and Agile Practices’, or spend a few minutes with Stephane Ducasse who will share with us the stuff he used for teaching objects.

Are you tired of reading this neverending email? Did you have fun reading it? Do you want to be a part of a conference made by programmers and for programmers, with more than 400 registered people already, having fun and learning in the process? you’ve got to come to Smalltalks 2009!!! :-)

 

Register for free at www.fast.org.ar

The conference will be held from Thursday 19th to Saturday 21st November. You can check out the ‘Talks’ section on our website, you’ll have a great time for sure. Schedule will be available soon.

 

Smalltalks 2009 Organization Committee

For questions, send an email to [hidden email]

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This mails was first writting in Spanish and sent to many argentine programming lists. It cause a great effect because it made the registered number go from 320 to 411in just one day... we wanted to share it with you...