Although the final schedule has been published for a few weeks now, I'm pleased to announce that Kevin and I are presenting a number of sessions at DevWeek 2009, which takes place at the end of March in London. Here are the details of the sessions and we'll try to organise a CTA user group to coincide with the event.

1. Pitfalls for new software architects

It's a well-known fact that we learn by making mistakes, but why not get a head-start and learn from other people's! The software architecture role involves a depth of technology skills along with a breadth of many other things, including soft skills. Those of us that have driven down Architect Boulevard will know that it's a potted ride and in this session we'll tell you exactly where those pitfalls are. Packed full of real-world advice and quotes from others new to the role, this session will give new and aspiring software architects some solid advice for taking their roles forward.

2. Flex, Silverlight or JavaFX - which should you choose?

Rich Internet Applications are a hot topic at the moment; with Adobe, Microsoft and Sun vying for your attention in a post-AJAX world. But which should you choose? In this session, we'll look at three major RIA platforms - Flex, Silverlight and JavaFX. A common example will be used to demonstrate each of the platforms, additionally acting as a baseline for an unbiased comparison of the code, development paradigm, flexibility, ease of use and so on. Come along and let the RIA debate begin!

3. An introduction to the Java platform for .NET developers

This session presents an introduction to the Java platform and is aimed at anybody with .NET experience. But wait a minute, this is 2009! Why do this now? More and more enterprise projects are turning away from a single technology stack solution and becoming more heterogeneous in nature. If we as technologists are to survive in this ever-changing industry, we need to put any dogma to one side and expand our horizons. We need to start evaluating technologies on their merits rather than simply writing them off through vendor preferences in order that we can provide real business benefit to the stakeholders. As .NET developers, this is your opportunity to get a jump-start into the world of the Java platform, where we'll be taking a look at a number of different APIs, libraries and frameworks, drawing parallels to the .NET framework where applicable.

4. From Developer to Architect

This session is an interactive introduction to software architecture and what it means to be a software architect. It's aimed at software developers who are looking towards their first software architect role, as well as architects that are new to the role. You will gain:

• An understanding of what it means to be a software architect, and the role's responsibilities.
• An understanding of the trade-offs connected with architectural decisions.
• Some experience of what it feels like to be an architect, including gathering non-functional requirements, determining the drivers for architecture, and defining an architecture.
• An understanding that, as a software architect, it's okay to do some coding.

Combining presentation, group discussion and group working, throughout the day you'll be solidifying everything you learn by defining the architecture for a small software system. The overall goal is that you can take the experience gained here and apply it to your own projects. No architecture experience required, but software development experience is assumed.

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Posted by Simon Brown on 01 December 2008 10:00:00 GMT #