Craft Conference 2018: The best talks

As great supporters of the newest trends and technologies, we always like to keep up with all the knowledge sharing events and initiatives. One of such events is Craft Conference in Budapest - a great opportunity to hear some of the masterminds of software craftsmanship in our community talking about methods, tools, and practices needed to develop sustainable solutions. This year’s Craft Conference was mind-blowing. We talked with few of our colleagues who shared their insights and rounded up 7 must-watch lectures.

“Scaling Your Application with Events and Services” - Randy Shoup

Boban Mikšin: “Unlike the previous Craft Conference, this year’s conference was beyond expectation. Although one of the main topics of previous conferences was microservices, no one has ever given an in-depth explanation of what they really represent. However, this year, one lecture named Scaling Your Application with Events and Services by Randy Shoup was a pleasant surprise. Randy's clear and precise presentation shed light on this subject and helped me clarify doubts I had about it. So I can freely say Randy's lecture left the most powerful impression on me.

Watch the video from this lecture here.

“Stress and Depression – the dangers of a burnout” - Gitte Klitgaard

Ivana Tešanović: “The talk that had the biggest emotional influence on me was connected to the topic of soft skills called Stress and Depression – the dangers of a burnout by Gitte Klitgaard. She talked about stress in this business and how it can negatively affect your health without even realizing it. She also mentioned her experiences with a burnout, and how she dealt with it. She talked about the signals we mustn't ignore as well as the ways how to reduce stress and depression to a minimum and eventually eliminate them. The fact that Gitte spoke about it so openly and honestly added more value to the entire lecture. It was really overwhelming and it sure made a good point about taking care of ourselves and the people around us.

Watch the video from this lecture here.

“Dark Patterns” - Ema Keaveny

Ivan Kockarević: “I can honestly say that this year's conference was outstanding. One lecture that really caught my attention was the one presented by Ema Keaveny called Dark Patterns. She was talking about patterns that are designed to fool you into buying or applying for the things you had no intention of getting. She also touched on pros and cons of, as she calls them, “controversial and barely legal techniques” pointing out how much we are manipulated by them on a daily basis without even realizing it. Emma is a very open, down-to-earth and cool speaker. I hope to have a chance to listen to her lecture again.

Watch the video from this lecture here.

“The Well Rounded Architect” - Patrick Kua

Nikola Živković: “Last year I was impressed with Patrick’s presentational skills and the leadership topic he was covering. This year, he extended that topic to the next level and gave us quite a few guidelines about what being a good software architect is all about. He emphasizes how important it is to be good at the technical stuff. After all, he wrote the book about it with Neil Ford and Rebecca Parsons.

However, he also points out how a good architect will work on other skills as well, like communication, leadership, and strategy. If you are planning to go down this career path, I strongly suggest that you listen to some of his talks and take extensive notes. You can follow Patrick on Twitter and read his blog.

Watch the video from this lecture here.

“Using Machine Learning and Open Data to Report 216 Brazilian Congresspeople for Corruption” - Irio Musskopf

Milan Kosanović: “Definitely Using Machine Learning and Open Data to Report 216 Brazilian Congresspeople for Corruption by Irio Musskopf. What fascinated me is the fact that Irio talked about his lack of experience and how he knew nothing about Data Science and Machine Learning at the beginning of his career. However, it didn't stop him in his intention to start the project. In the beginning, the project was rather simple, but eventually, it became bigger and bigger. So, then, he decided to do some research and implement Machine Learning as well as other more complex things. In my view, his lecture is a message to all the people not to be afraid of starting working on a project even if they don't know the technology so well. It's always better to start learning on time, then not to learn at all.

“Designing a high-performing team” - Alison Coward

Zorana Deurić: “I would definitely single out the lecture by Alison Coward, named Designing a high-performing team. Working with a variety of teams and conducting a research of the teams for the biggest companies across the globe, Alison discovered a few useful ways how to reach a balance between creativity and productivity within a team and how to create a happier working place for all its members. She also pointed out that two most important factors in achieving team’s effectiveness are communication and trust.”

Watch the video from this lecture here.

“Five key challenges for software quality tomorrow” - Gojko Adžić

Željko Bal: “Besides a wide array of inspiring lectures at this year’s conference, there was one I find particularly interesting and thought-provoking - Five key challenges for software quality tomorrow presented by Gojko Adžić. Gojko presented a few interesting problems which occur or can occur sometime in future due to the increasing connectedness between software systems and the usage of the so-called AI in those systems which inevitably lead to the consequences that are hard to predict. The lecture was really awe-inspiring, educational and energetic.

Watch the video from this lecture here.

If you missed the chance to attend this year’s conference, we hope you will find this article helpful. Feel free to share your thoughts with us after you watch the talks!

Hope to see you on the next year’s conference! Until then, stay tuned and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Linkedin!