In the heart of Eastern Europe, the BuildStuff 2023 conference was a highlight gathering for software developers, showcasing a blend of professionalism and community engagement. This conference enabled insightful discussions, showcasing the latest trends in software development as a whole. Here’s a rundown of the key takeaways and trends observed by us at Provengo during the event.
1. Countless companies struggle with QA: QA remains a persistent challenge for many organizations, and at BuildStuff, the spotlight was on different approaches to dealing with it.
From Provengo’s point of view, many were eager to hear more about how we tackle QA challenges, using the Model-Based Testing (MBT) approach, promising enhanced efficiency for QA and development teams.
2.Highlight Talk #1: Dr. Venkat Subramaniam: The one and only, gave a keynote talk on agile, productivity, and soft skills. His talk reminded us that while software engineering may seem like a rapidly changing domain, large-scale changes can take decades – especially when it comes to paradigm shifts, such as the the adoption of Object Oriented programming. He is a sought-after conference speaker, award-winning author, founder of Agile Developer, Inc., creator of agilelearner.com, and an instructional professor at the University of Houston.
Highlight Talk #2: Sarah Hutchins’ session on “Building Quality Strategy with Models” provided a comprehensive overview of effective QA strategies.
3. Exploratory Testing and the Theatrical Element:- Damian Synadinos led the “Improv(e) your testing” workshop, offering a unique perspective on exploratory testing while drawing unexpected parallels with exploratory theater. Damian’s approach to testing relies on things that manual exploratory testing does best, such as improvising with a system and seeing “what happens”. For example, applying the improve concept of “yes, and…” to test design facilitates creation of test scenarios that check complex edge cases. But his approach can also be applied to model development, because models are very easy to play and experiment with and you can always visualize them to see “what happens”. If you want to make sure you don’t break anything, verification has got your back.
4. Dylan Beattie’s Exploration of Font Design and HTML: Dylan Beattie, Director of Ursatile Ltd. Technology strategist and a programming language designer’s session on font design and HTML, provided a nuanced exploration of these technical elements, catering not only to enthusiasts but also emphasizing their relevance in the broader context of software development.
5. Emerging Trends – The return of Formal Models: Formal models, including state machines, Petri nets, and the formalization of attack vectors, surfaced prominently in various sessions. This “return to life” suggests a renewed emphasis on precision and clarity in software development practices. We were happy to see they are making a comeback!
6. Networking and Beyond: Several sessions shed light on the challenges of communication breakdowns between technical and non-technical teams, emphasizing the need for improved collaboration and understanding throughout project development. As this is one of the prominent solutions we provide at Provengo, we learned much about the challenges they posed and that it’s really so much about the team’s communication. Lirone Glikman workshop on Networking skills enhancement and her drive to network, gave us the opportunity to refine our networking skills, transforming routine breaks into valuable opportunities- which is always an important outcome at any conference!
To conclude, Build Stuff 2023 transcended the conventional conference experience, offering a dynamic exploration of emerging trends and innovations in software development. We learned much and met countless new friends and hopefully partners for the continuous journey of Provengo and our global expansion!
