Open Tech Calendar

Talk: Reinventing npmjs.com

The npm website has some catching up to do. It began as the
homepage for a fledgling open source project and it has grown to
become the foremost resource for over 600,000 packages in the npm
registry. It now needs to keep up with the expectations of modern
users and evolve into something better.

This talk uncovers the process of architecting the new
npmjs.com website, and examines how the changing landscape of
development tooling has shaped it throughout its lifetime. It will
also address the challenges tools must address in the near-future, and
how we hope our experience building the new npmjs.com website can help
the wider community.

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Katie Fenn is a software engineer at npm. She works with all
aspects of the web, particularly JavaScript, CSS, Node.JS and ops.
When not at her desk, she is usually in the pool or on her bike in the
Peak District.

Thu 22nd Feb 2018 6:30pm (Europe/London)

Thu 22nd Feb 2018 8:30pm (Europe/London)

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How to be a Web AV Artist

Well, it's our last meetup of the year, and I'm very excited to announce we have Ruth John (@Rumyra) travelling all the way to Sheffield to share with us some amazing Web Audio projects!

Afterwards, you're invited to join us at the Rutland Arms for our final social of 2017.


How to be a Web AV Artist
-------------------------

Come and be fascinated by the world of audio visualisation in a browser. This isn’t just about creating stunning data vis to music! We see how we can pipe data realtime into custom properties to enhance our visuals. The speaker re-addresses how we analyse sound via the Web Audio API and proposes a better way of processing the data to better suit music, and, to top it all off, we harness the Web MIDI API for full hardware control as well. You may not think it, but this really is a talk with a great deal of take-aways and new techniques for you to consider in your coding life.

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Ruth is a web technologist and Google Developer Expert. She likes to educate people about new web technologies and inspire them to try them, coming up with exciting and engaging ways to use them. She’s a founding member of { Live: JS }, a collective of audio and visual artists that solely rely on JavaScript to create their performances. Her favourite things include hacking with hardware, evangelising about Web Audio and MIDI and taking her award nominated, hand coded, audio/visual software to the streets.

Thu 30th Nov 2017 6:30pm (Europe/London)

Thu 30th Nov 2017 8:30pm (Europe/London)

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Memory: Don’t Forget to Take Out the Garbage / CSS and component based systems

This month we have two great talks lined up for you and we'll be celebrating the brief return of an old Sheffield JS regular: Lewis Cowper - who's travelled all the way Berlin just for a decent burrito.

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"Memory: Don’t Forget to Take Out the Garbage" by Katie Fenn (@katie_fenn):

Memory is fundamentally important to any computer program. It’s a finite resource, and is limited on mobile devices more than it is on desktop. JavaScript does a remarkable job of hiding this complexity from us. What’s going on behind the scenes, and how can you fix problems when memory runs out?

In this talk I will introduce computer memory and how JavaScript’s garbage collector works. I will contrast JavaScript with other languages and explore how Web Assembly will change the web’s relationship with memory in the future. It will be aimed at JavaScript developers of all experience levels and backgrounds.

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"CSS and component based systems" by Lewis Cowper (@LewisCowper)

With more and more frameworks and libraries moving towards defining components rather than pages, it is getting more difficult to make sure the cascade doesn't trip us up. In this talk, we'll look at how we can take advantage of new tools and approaches to make dealing with CSS and components much easier. We'll look at three approaches for styling components, and discuss the benefits and drawbacks of each approach. While React will be used as the example component that needs styling, the techniques and approaches should be applicable across the front end ecosystem.

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After the talks we'll head to the Rutland Arms pub for some more socialising.

Thu 28th Sep 2017 6:30pm (Europe/London)

Thu 28th Sep 2017 8:30pm (Europe/London)

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This month Caolan will provide some intentionally insecure Node.js programs for us to experiment with. We'll split up into two teams: one will attempt to demonstrate a working exploit, the other will attempt to mitigate the attack by fixing the program.

The security holes will be very straight-forward and easy to understand but will hopefully serve as a talking point to discuss the risks associated.

You do not need to be 1337 to attend, but please bring a laptop if you can. Bonus points if you have Node.js installed (https://nodejs.org).

Hack the p̶l̶a̶n̶e̶t̶ world! (wide web)

This month Caolan will provide some intentionally insecure Node.js programs for us to experiment with. We'll split up into two teams: one will attempt to demonstrate a working exploit, the other will attempt to mitigate the attack by fixing the program.

The security holes will be very straight-forward and easy to understand but will hopefully serve as a talking point to discuss the risks associated.

You do not need to be 1337 to attend.

Thu 31st Aug 2017 6:30pm (Europe/London)

Thu 31st Aug 2017 8:30pm (Europe/London)

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Two short talks this month, followed by socialising :)

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"How I ended up automating my curtains and shouting at my laptop" by Luke Bonaccorsi (@LukeB_UK)

We encounter automation every day and may not realise. It could be a set of
traffic lights, a thermostat or automated tests for our code. It all works
to make our lives easier and more efficient.

A couple of years ago I started working on a chat based automation system
using JavaScript in my free time and in this talk I'll share my progress,
my reasons for doing it and what I'd like to do with it in the future.
Hopefully I'll inspire you to embrace automation in your daily life.

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"Proxy objects" by Caolan McMahon (@caolan)

A short demo of the relatively new (ECMAScript 2015) JavaScript Proxy objects - how they work, and what they might be used for.

Sheffield JS Talks

Two short talks this month, followed by socialising :)

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"How I ended up automating my curtains and shouting at my laptop" by Luke Bonaccorsi (@LukeB_UK)

We encounter automation every day and may not realise. It could be a set of
traffic lights, a thermostat or automated tests for our code. It all works
to make our lives easier and more efficient.

A couple of years ago I started working on a chat based automation system
using JavaScript in my free time and in this talk I'll share my progress,
my reasons for doing it and what I'd like to do with it in the future.
Hopefully I'll inspire you to embrace automation in your daily life.

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"Proxy objects" by Caolan McMahon (@caolan)

A short demo of the relatively new (ECMAScript 2015) JavaScript Proxy objects - how they work, and what they could be used for.

Thu 29th Jun 2017 6:30pm (Europe/London)

Thu 29th Jun 2017 8:30pm (Europe/London)

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Sheffield JS Talks

Mental Health in the Tech Industry – Chad Gowler (@kitation)

"Mental health is something that will affect most of us. The tech industry is high-paced and high pressure, and this means that we may be leaving some developers to struggle. This talk will examine touchpoints such as meetings, code review and timesheets and think about ways that they could cause difficulty. We will think about how we can make them easier to navigate so that developers can get back doing to what they do best."

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Katie Fenn – Functional JavaScript, in a nutshell

"JavaScript is a language of two flavours: object-oriented and functional. Some would say functional is JavaScript's dominant flavour, but only recently have we started exploring its uses fully.

This talk will introduce the basic ingredients of functional programming and explain why embracing them makes JavaScript easier to work with."

Thu 25th May 2017 6:30pm (Europe/London)

Thu 25th May 2017 8:30pm (Europe/London)

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This month, Chris Kemp (@chriskemp3000) from NottsJS will be teaching us some React!

"React may be something that you’re interested in learning, but looking at your first react app, even a simple one, can be confusing as there’s a lot of magic involved. There’s Linting, EcmaScript, JSX, Babel, Webpack, Redux, Yeoman, NPM and finally React. Rather than having to start from he outside and dig inwards through this, this session will focus on the core concepts and then move outwards to explain some of the things that support it. You’re then invited to contribute to an Open Source project to help build a website and be able to say that you’ve written a real-world site."

No registration necessary.

This month we're having a practical session, so please bring a laptop if you can. We'll split up into groups and work on one or more programming challenges selected by the organisers from http://exercism.io/languages/javascript/exercises.

This is a non-competitive, collaborative (and hopefully fun) event where you can both help and learn from your peers - even if it's just "how did you just do that in vim?!".

If you can, please install the 'exercism' CLI http://exercism.io/cli and Node.js stuff before you arrive http://exercism.io/languages/javascript/installing - If you have difficulty installing anything, don't worry, we'll help you get set up at the event :)

Thu 30th Mar 2017 6:30pm (Europe/London)

Thu 30th Mar 2017 8:30pm (Europe/London)

React Workshop

This month, Chris Kemp (@chriskemp3000) from NottsJS will be teaching us some React!

"React may be something that you’re interested in learning, but looking at your first react app, even a simple one, can be confusing as there’s a lot of magic involved. There’s Linting, EcmaScript, JSX, Babel, Webpack, Redux, Yeoman, NPM and finally React. Rather than having to start from he outside and dig inwards through this, this session will focus on the core concepts and then move outwards to explain some of the things that support it. You’re then invited to contribute to an Open Source project to help build a website and be able to say that you’ve written a real-world site."

Thu 27th Apr 2017 6:30pm (Europe/London)

Thu 27th Apr 2017 8:30pm (Europe/London)

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Sheffield JS: Code Dojo

This month we're having a practical session, so please bring a laptop if you can. We'll split up into groups and work on one or more programming challenges selected by the organisers from http://exercism.io/languages/javascript/exercises.

This is a non-competitive, collaborative (and hopefully fun) event where you can both help and learn from your peers - even if it's just "how did you just do that in vim?!".

Wed 29th Mar 2017 6:30pm (Europe/London)

Wed 29th Mar 2017 8:30pm (Europe/London)

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This month our very own Katie Fenn (@katie_fenn) from Canonical will be giving a talk on functional JS, followed by Matthew Tylee Atkinson (@matatk) talking about accessibility and the Web Audio API!

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***NOTE: this talk is now cancelled as Katie is off sick, our second talk is still going ahead***

Functional JS, In A Nutshell - Katie Fenn (@katie_fenn)

"JavaScript is a language of two flavours: object-oriented and functional. Some would say functional is JavaScript's dominant flavour, but only recently have we started exploring its uses fully.

This talk will introduce the basic ingredients of functional programming and explain why embracing them makes JavaScript easier to work with."

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Exploring the Use of the Web Audio API to Improve Chart Accessibility - Matthew Tylee Atkinson (@matatk)

Charts and plots are engaging and widely used, but present barriers to people with vision impairments. AudioChart provides an aural, keyboard-accessible means to experience them.

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Afterwards, we'll head to the Rutland Arms for more JavaScript chat and socialising.

"The Reasoned 'Scripter" by Ryan Gough (@ryanwgough)
An introduction to logic programming, and how you can build your own logic language in JS.

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"HTTP for web developers" by Lorna Mitchell (@lornajane)
Details TBC.

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"HTTP for web developers" and "The Reasoned 'Scripter"

"HTTP for web developers" by Lorna Mitchell (@lornajane)

Details TBC.

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"The Reasoned 'Scripter" by Ryan Gough (@ryanwgough)

an introduction to logic programming, and how you can build your own logic language in JS

Web Audio API for Chart Accessibility and Functional JS, In A Nutshell

This month our very own Katie Fenn (@katie_fenn) from Canonical will be giving a talk on functional JS, followed by Matthew Tylee Atkinson (@matatk) talking about accessibility and the Web Audio API!

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Functional JS, In A Nutshell - Katie Fenn (@katie_fenn)

"JavaScript is a language of two flavours: object-oriented and functional. Some would say functional is JavaScript's dominant flavour, but only recently have we started exploring its uses fully.

This talk will introduce the basic ingredients of functional programming and explain why embracing them makes JavaScript easier to work with."

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Exploring the Use of the Web Audio API to Improve Chart Accessibility - Matthew Tylee Atkinson (@matatk)

Charts and plots are engaging and widely used, but present barriers to people with vision impairments. AudioChart provides an aural, keyboard-accessible means to experience them.

---

Afterwards, we'll head to the Rutland Arms for more JavaScript chat and socialising.

Functional JS, In A Nutshell

This month our very own Katie Fenn (@katie_fenn) from Canonical will be giving a talk on functional JS!

"JavaScript is a language of two flavours: object-oriented and functional. Some would say functional is JavaScript's dominant flavour, but only recently have we started exploring its uses fully.

This talk will introduce the basic ingredients of functional programming and explain why embracing them makes JavaScript easier to work with."

Afterwards, we'll head to the Rutland Arms for more JS chat and socialising.

Thu 26th Jan 2017 6:30pm (Europe/London)

Thu 26th Jan 2017 8:30pm (Europe/London)

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Node.js Microservices

Glynn Bird (@glynn_bird) will be joining us again, this time to talk about Node.js Microservices!

"Node.js makes it simple to build out your own Microservices infrastructure. Learn how to build simple, composable services using Node.js and Express and feed them with queues of work. We'll also have a peek at "serverless" architecture and orchestration."

As usual, after the talk we'll head to the Rutland Arms for more JS chat and socialising. You're all invited :)

Thu 29th Sep 2016 6:30pm (Europe/London)

Thu 29th Sep 2016 8:30pm (Europe/London)

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Talk by Matt Collins (@mattcollins84) - details TBC

HTTP for web developers

Talk by Lorna Mitchell (@lornajane) - details TBC

Thu 24th Nov 2016 6:30pm (Europe/London)

Thu 24th Nov 2016 8:30pm (Europe/London)

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Real-time Web Apps with Node.js and RethinkDB

Talk by Matt Collins (@mattcollins84)

Thu 27th Oct 2016 6:30pm (Europe/London)

Thu 27th Oct 2016 8:30pm (Europe/London)

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This month we're going to the Rutland Arms for some socialising. It's like networking but more fun. We'll meet at around 18:30 - if the weather is nice we'll be outside, otherwise I'll try and book the room upstairs. If you have any trouble spotting a table full of web developers just send a tweet to the @sheffield_js Twitter account and we'll come find you. Everyone is welcome, so come and meet your friendly local JavaScript community over a drink or two :)

Summer Social

This month we're going to meet at the Rutland Arms for some socialising, it's like networking but more fun. We'll meet at the Rutland Arms around 18:30 - if the weather is nice we'll be outside, otherwise I'll try and book the room upstairs. If you have any trouble spotting a table full of web developers just send a tweet to the @sheffield_js Twitter account. Everyone is welcome, so come and meet your friendly local JavaScript community over a drink or two :)

Thu 25th Aug 2016 6:30pm (Europe/London)

Thu 25th Aug 2016 8:30pm (Europe/London)

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This month I'm pleased to announce a talk by Ben Foxall from Pusher! Afterwards, we'll be heading to the Rutland Arms to socialize and maybe even talk JavaScript.

"Using browsers for data visualisation" - Ben Foxall (@benjaminbenben)

I’ll show how we can utilise the browser for collecting, processing & displaying data - looking at aspects of the javascript language and browser APIs that make the front-end web platform a powerful tool for data visualisation.

This talk will go into Service Workers, IndexedDB, d3, webGL. It’ll also contain some demos and pretty pictures.

Sheffield JS: Talk Night

This month I'm pleased to announce a talk by Ben Foxall from Pusher. Afterwards, we'll be heading to the Rutland Arms to socialize and maybe even talk JavaScript.

"Using browsers for data visualisation" - Ben Foxall (@benjaminbenben)

I’ll show how we can utilise the browser for collecting, processing & displaying data - looking at aspects of the javascript language and browser APIs that make the front-end web platform a powerful tool for data visualisation.

This talk will go into Service Workers, IndexedDB, d3, webGL. It’ll also contain some demos and pretty pictures.

Thu 30th Jun 2016 6:30pm (Europe/London)

Thu 30th Jun 2016 8:30pm (Europe/London)

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Workshop: Asking about gender

This month Chad (@kitation) will be helping us build better and more inclusive services on the web with a 1 hour workshop - afterwards, we'll head to the Rutland Arms to socialize and talk JavaScript!

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Asking About Gender: A workshop to inform developers, designers and project managers about how to provide services for transgender and non-binary users. At the end of the workshop participants will understand:

- Basic terms such as transgender, gender binary, intersex and cisgender
- How the Equality Act covers gender and gender reassignment
- When it is and is not appropriate to ask users about gender
- The UX of gender fields on forms, and how to design them in an inclusive way

All activities are paper-based so no laptop required. It should take around 60 minutes.

Thu 26th May 2016 6:30pm (Europe/London)

Thu 26th May 2016 8:30pm (Europe/London)

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This month we have Katie showing us CSS modules, followed by the usual trip to the Rutland arms. We'll also be having a prize giveaway of some free ScotlandJS and ScotlandCSS tickets!

"Modular Stylesheets with CSS Modules" - Katie Fenn

This talk introduces CSS Modules, a new, community-led specification for loading modular stylesheets. CSS Modules has the potential to revolutionise the way we write stylesheets, and make complex naming schemes and architectures a thing of the past.

Modular Stylesheets with CSS Modules

This month we have Katie showing us CSS modules, followed by the usual trip to the Rutland arms.

"Modular Stylesheets with CSS Modules" - Katie Fenn

This talk introduces CSS Modules, a new, community-led specification for loading modular stylesheets. CSS Modules has the potential to revolutionise the way we write stylesheets, and make complex naming schemes and architectures a thing of the past.

Thu 28th Apr 2016 6:30pm (Europe/London)

Thu 28th Apr 2016 8:30pm (Europe/London)

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This month, we've got two talks lined up, followed by the usual visit to the Rutland Arms to socialise :)

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"Towards Devcards: Stealing the best ideas from ClojureScript" - Glen Mailer (@glenathan)

The React community has a good pedigree of taking great ideas from other communities and building upon them. The ClojureScript community has also been quite influential in pushing the boundaries of how we build web applications.

The React core team has acknowledged that David Nolen's Om work was part of the early adopter surge that helped React take off. It's now commonplace to talk about immutability in React-land, which is a philosphy inherited from our Clojure-based colleagues. Hot code reloading is another area where Clojure showed us was possible with Figwheel.

So what can we take next? I think the answer to that is Devcards. Devcards is an idea from the creator of Figwheel that builds upon hot code reloading to give you a visual REPL for creating components. Instead of having to build and iterate on components from within the application, you can use cards to show all the possible states at once.

Devcards is quite closely bound to the way ClojureScript works, so it's not trivial to use it in ordinary JavaScript projects. I've ported it to JavaScript so you can try it out - and maybe change the way you build applications.

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"Why Stealth Refactoring is Wrecking our Codebases" - Naomi Rosenberg (@hoegrammer)

Because management are perceived not to value refactoring, developers fear being “told off” for doing it. So we refactor less than we’d like to, and when we do, we often sneak it in, hidden amongst functional changes.

We know insufficient refactoring leads to technical debt. Stealth refactoring creates problems, too. Reviewing a diff mixing functional and non-functional changes is time-consuming and error-prone, costing money and introducing bugs. Also, stealth refactoring tends to focus only on the “geographical area” - the function, file or module - that we are “touching” at the time. What are the implications of that for the coherence and consistency of our codebases?

I will make some technical suggestions for optimising how we refactor, but the main issue is cultural. Is our shame around refactoring entirely due to management, or are devs responsible too? How can we sell simplicity to people who may not be aware of its value? Can we create a culture that legitimises - or even rewards! - a practice that is, after all, essential to developing a quality product at a reasonable cost?

Sheffield JS: Talk Night

This month, we're going to learn about DevCards - a really interesting idea for front-end development. We'll be meeting on the second floor at Union st. Co-working space at 18:30, followed by the usual visit to the Rutland Arms to socialise.

"Towards Devcards: Stealing the best ideas from ClojureScript" - Glen Mailer (@glenathan)

The React community has a good pedigree of taking great ideas from other communities and building upon them. The ClojureScript community has also been quite influential in pushing the boundaries of how we build web applications.

The React core team has acknowledged that David Nolen's Om work was part of the early adopter surge that helped React take off. It's now commonplace to talk about immutability in React-land, which is a philosphy inherited from our Clojure-based colleagues. Hot code reloading is another area where Clojure showed us was possible with Figwheel.

So what can we take next? I think the answer to that is Devcards. Devcards is an idea from the creator of Figwheel that builds upon hot code reloading to give you a visual REPL for creating components. Instead of having to build and iterate on components from within the application, you can use cards to show all the possible states at once.

Devcards is quite closely bound to the way ClojureScript works, so it's not trivial to use it in ordinary JavaScript projects. I've ported it to JavaScript so you can try it out - and maybe change the way you build applications.

Thu 31st Mar 2016 6:30pm (Europe/London)

Thu 31st Mar 2016 8:30pm (Europe/London)

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Social @ Rutland Arms

No talks this month, but we'll still be heading to the pub to socialise. Join us in the Rutland Arms at the usual start time of 6:30pm.

Thu 25th Feb 2016 6:30pm (Europe/London)

Thu 25th Feb 2016 10:00pm (Europe/London)

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It's the first Sheffield JS of the new year \o/ We have two talks planned for you:

Ian Crowther (@iancrowther) - "Introducing Gitevents"

Gitevent is an open source platform developed to aid event organisers run meetups much efficiently. I want to share with you why it was built, how its built and highlight some of the growing pains experienced during this project.

Katie Fenn (@katie_fenn) - "A Talk About Speaking"

Katie relates about her experiences speaking at user groups and conferences, and offers her advice to people considering speaking for the first time. She will announce a local speaker’s workshop to mentor people who would like to submit proposals for the upcoming Scotland JS conference.

Afterwards, we'll be making the usual trip to the Rutland Arms for more JavaScript socialising. Hope to see you there!

Sheffield JS: Talk Night

It's the first Sheffield JS of the new year \o/

This month, we have talks from Ian Crowther (@iancrowther) and Katie Fenn (@katie_fenn) - more details to follow soon. Afterwards, we'll be making the usual trip to the Rutland Arms for more JavaScript socialising. Hope to see you there!

Thu 28th Jan 2016 6:30pm (Europe/London)

Thu 28th Jan 2016 8:30pm (Europe/London)

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ES6/2015 introduces tail-call optimization and if we're getting proper tail calls we better learn how to wield them! From the basic safety procedures of a recursive loop, to the whizz and bang of the undeniably magical, we'll be exploring recursion in all it's forms. Impress your friends, write beautiful code, and try not to shoot yourself in the foot. Afterwards, we'll be nursing our swollen brains in the pub and letting the background magic dissipate to more acceptable levels.

Talk by @caolan

JavaScript Witchcraft and Wizardry: Mastering recursion

ES6/2015 introduces tail-call optimization and if we're getting proper tail calls we better learn how to wield them! From the basic safety procedures of a recursive loop, to the whizz and bang of the undeniably magical, we'll be exploring recursion in all it's forms. Impress your friends, write beautiful code, and try not to shoot yourself in the foot. Afterwards, we'll be nursing our swollen brains in the pub and letting the background magic dissipate to more acceptable levels.

Thu 29th Oct 2015 6:30pm (Europe/London)

Thu 29th Oct 2015 8:30pm (Europe/London)

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Talk Night: Why is teaching web development so difficult? / JavaScript Infosec: for the greater good

We're back to the usual double presentation format, followed by a trip to the Rutland Arms. This month, we have topics that should interest every JavaScript developer: how we teach web technologies, and how we can keep our code, and our users, secure.


"Why is teaching web development so difficult?" - Claire Gowler (https://twitter.com/kitation)

I’m going to share my adventures teaching HTML and CSS with Code Club and Flask apps with Festival of Code and look at whether there is a generation gap in the way we think about programming the internet.


"JavaScript Infosec: for the greater good" - Jonathan Kingston (https://twitter.com/KingstonTime)

CSP security is great to prevent many of the simple hacks on the internet. However there are roadblocks in making this possible, the talk will cover how we can all reach out and fix the web.

Thu 27th Aug 2015 6:30pm (Europe/London)

Thu 27th Aug 2015 8:30pm (Europe/London)

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Talk Night (& Farewell Lewis)

"NPM (Basically magic)" - Lewis Cowper (@LewisCowper)

In Lewis' last Sheffield JS before moving to Berlin, he'll be showing us all the wonderful things NPM can do for you, and converting some traditional task runner projects to NPM scripts.

Afterwards, we'll be heading to the Rutland Arms, in what is likely to be Lewis' last pub night. Come and say farewell, toast all the GIFs we've enjoyed, and contemplate the pleasures of a quiet life ;)

Thu 30th Jul 2015 6:30pm (Europe/London)

Thu 30th Jul 2015 8:30pm (Europe/London)

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NodeSchool workshop

We're going back to NodeSchool! Pair up, select a workshop from the list at http://nodeschool.io/#workshoppers and progress through the interactive tutorial. There will be Node experts on hand to answer any questions, and a pub trip afterwards to discuss further. NodeSchool provide topics for a range of experience levels, so everyone should be able to complete something!

Thu 25th Jun 2015 6:30pm (Europe/London)

Thu 25th Jun 2015 8:30pm (Europe/London)

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Chrome DevTools / adaptive and evolvable applications / forklift driver to developer

Talk Night: Chrome DevTools / adaptive and evolvable applications / forklift driver to developer

Talk Night: "Chrome DevTools, Front to Back", "Adaptive and evolvable applications" and "How I went from forklift driver to developer in 9 months"

This month we're getting a sneak-preview of some talks Team Sheffield will be taking to Scotland JS, so be sure to give our speakers some friendly and constructive feedback :)


"Chrome DevTools, Front to Back" - Katie Fenn (@katie_fenn)

I have a confession: I used to debug my scripts using alert(). I didn't know about the console, about breakpoints or profiling. I didn't know there was a better way.

We shall see how to debug code line-by-line, how to optimise HTTP requests and how to profile the performance of your code. Finally we shall introduce DevTools to the server, inspecting Node.JS scripts with node-inspector. You'll never need alert() again.


"Adaptive and evolvable applications" Ben Longden (@blongden)

RESTful web design is the current best practice model for building an API. This talk will focus on how we should be approach building clients for those services. Hypermedia is a powerful tool in the box for buildings clients that do not also happen to be web browsers and I'd like to take the opportunity to present a way that focusses on building a client that can exploit this power. Approval times for an App Store need not be a blocker for introducing new functionality and you don't have to force everyone to upgrade to the latest client all the time if you follow a few rules. Keep as much logic out of the client as possible, and focus on link relations and their meaning. This session is recommended primarily for anyone who builds clients for HTTP web services but also those on the server side - looking to see how the other half live.


"How I went from forklift driver to developer in 9 months" - Lewis Cowper (@LewisCowper)

Moving up the ladder from forklift driver and general labourer, to front end developer, with a stint in manual testing, was a big challenge. However it's exactly what I did, and I couldn't have done it without following a few core principles.

Getting up the nerve to go to local usergroups, and conferences, and discovering a new found love of public speaking, was a huge leap from labouring. Similarly, I discovered contributing to open source wasn't that big a deal, and some things certain projects did made it really easy! Also, learning about things like source control was super integral to being where I am today.

The most important part was trying to learn something from everyone I met. It didn't matter where I met you, if I saw an opportunity to learn more, or try a new thing, I was there.

I'd love to tell you how I went from forklift driver to developer in less than 9 months, and show you how you can help anyone wanting to make a start.


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And, as usual, we'll be heading to the Pub afterwards for more JavaScript banter!

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Talk Night: let js = new ES2015("ES6", "harmony")

This year JavaScript got a new version: formerly known as "harmony", and then "ES6", the final name will now be "ES2015".

We'll discuss how and why that happened, and how the mysterious TC39 was involved.

I'll show off the new features, including syntax and APIs. I'll look at how you can use it today, via browser support and the amazing antipodean Babel compiler.

I'll also talk about what's next for JavaScript, as it attempts to move to a "release train" model, and what that means for those of us who just want to write JavaScript.

Thu 28th May 2015 6:30pm (Europe/London)

Thu 28th May 2015 8:30pm (Europe/London)

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Talk Night: "Chrome DevTools, Front to Back" and "Adaptive and evolvable applications"

This month we're getting a sneak-preview of some talks Team Sheffield will be taking to Scotland JS, so be sure to give our speakers some friendly and constructive feedback :)

"Chrome DevTools, Front to Back" - Katie Fenn (@katie_fenn)

I have a confession: I used to debug my scripts using alert(). I didn't know about the console, about breakpoints or profiling. I didn't know there was a better way.

We shall see how to debug code line-by-line, how to optimise HTTP requests and how to profile the performance of your code. Finally we shall introduce DevTools to the server, inspecting Node.JS scripts with node-inspector. You'll never need alert() again.

"Adaptive and evolvable applications" Ben Longden (@blongden)

RESTful web design is the current best practice model for building an API. This talk will focus on how we should be approach building clients for those services. Hypermedia is a powerful tool in the box for buildings clients that do not also happen to be web browsers and I'd like to take the opportunity to present a way that focusses on building a client that can exploit this power. Approval times for an App Store need not be a blocker for introducing new functionality and you don't have to force everyone to upgrade to the latest client all the time if you follow a few rules. Keep as much logic out of the client as possible, and focus on link relations and their meaning. This session is recommended primarily for anyone who builds clients for HTTP web services but also those on the server side - looking to see how the other half live.

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And, as usual, we'll be heading to the Pub afterwards for more JavaScript banter!

Thu 30th Apr 2015 6:30pm (Europe/London)

Thu 30th Apr 2015 8:30pm (Europe/London)

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Talk Night: 'Meet the ServiceWorker' and 'Imitating jQuery'

"Meet the ServiceWorker: A developer's guide to the Offline Web" - Lewis Cowper

In this talk we'll go through some of the problems that ServiceWorker intends to solve, and look at how you might integrate it into your application, with live demos and code.

"Imitating jQuery" - Caolan McMahon

Three ways to (ab)use JavaScript so your API's can look just like jQuery, the unfashionable framework everyone secretly loves.

Thu 26th Mar 2015 6:30pm (Europe/London)

Thu 26th Mar 2015 8:30pm (Europe/London)

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