Speaking: ADC 2016

Pete Goodliffe from Pete Goodliffe

I'll be speaking at ADC 2016 (Audio Developer Conference), the successor to 2015's JUCE Summit in London on the 4th November.

My talk is called The Golden Rules of audio programming (and how to break them). The synopsis is:
Audio programming requires skill and discipline, if you want to create a rock-solid reliable, high quality product. And, of course, you do want to create rock-solid, reliable, high quality audio products! There are a number of established "best practices" that every audio developer must know and follow. 
This talk will investigate a number of these “golden rules”. You’ll see why they’re important and why you can’t ignore them. It will then explain how you can work around them in reasonable, practical ways.

See you there!

Speaking: Juce Summit

Pete Goodliffe from Pete Goodliffe

I'm giving a "guest talk" at the Juce Summit on the 19th November. Juce is a great C++ framework that's particularly well suited to audio application development.

I'll be giving a specially crafted version of one of my favourite talks - this time called "Becoming a Better (audio) Programmer". I hope it'll be a lot of fun!


There's a lot going on at this conference - and a heroically packed schedule. Check it out here: http://www.juce.com/summit.

Interview: Fog Creek (Going Beyond Code to Become A Better Programmer)

Pete Goodliffe from Pete Goodliffe

I recently did a short interview with the guys at Fog Creek on the subject Becoming a Better Programmer. You can view it here.

It's a heroic editing effort! Between unreliable network connections and probably a 40 minute conversion they've heroically cut it down to ten minutes, and made me look rather like Max Headroom.

There's been lots of great feedback about this, so I'm glad it's inspiring people.

Speaking: ACCU 2015

Pete Goodliffe from Pete Goodliffe

I'm pleased to announce that I'll be delivering the opening keynote at the awesome ACCU 2015 developer conference in Bristol this April. The talk is called "Becoming a Better Programmer" (it's no coincidence that this is the same title as my new book and my magazine column).

I'm really looking forward to it. I think it'll be great fun and, hopefully, really useful.

The session synopsis is:
You've come this conference to improve your skills. You're here to learn: to learn new technologies, to learn new techniques, and to fuel your passion by meeting like-minded people. 
Becoming a better programmer means more than just learning new technologies. It means more than practising techniques and idioms. It's about more than passion and attitude. It's the combination of all these things. That's what this session will look at. 
Pete Goodliffe, author of the new book Becoming a Better Programmer, unpacks important mindsets and techniques that will help you improve as a programmer.
You'll discover specific tools that will help you review your current skillset, and you'll learn techniques to help you “become a better programmer”.

More info about my session is available here.

Speaking: Words in Code

Pete Goodliffe from Pete Goodliffe

The slides from my ACCU 2014 talk, Words in Code, are available on SlideShare, from http://www.slideshare.net/petegoodliffe/words-in-code.

Here's the synopsis:

As software developers we do not just write code. We write many, many words too.

We write documentation, comments, manuals, specifications, technical articles, wiki documentation, and more. Maybe even magazine articles and books.

This talk discusses some practicalities of writing well, both stylistically and practically. We'll talk about prose, but also about the right "geek" way of writing, the storage formats, toolchains, and the storage of our words.

We'll cover:
- writing style
- what's appropriate: what to write what not to write
- keeping track: "source control" for words
- toolchains: what toolsets to use to write and prepare output
- markup languages vs "wysiwyg" tools
- sharing your words with non-geeks

At the end of this talk, you'll have a good idea how to put together an example "document toolchain" taking source-controlled words in a humane markup style, and creating high-quality HTML, PDF (fully styled, print-ready) ePub and Kindle output, as well as Word-friendly versions.

Speaking: Words in Code (ACCU 2014)

Pete Goodliffe from Pete Goodliffe

I'll be speaking at this year's excellent ACCU Conference 2014.

This year my talk is: Words in Code, a technical (and not so technical) appraisal of how developers write. It's a practical distillation of my fourteen years as a magazine columnist, multiple book projects, and more.

Come and enjoy it on Thursday 10th April at 10am. The conference's earlybird booking deadline is February the 14th. ACCU is one of the highlights of my developer year - it's a truly excellent conference. If you've not considered going, check it out!

The full synopsis is available on the session page:
As software developers we do not just write code. We write many, many words too.
We write documentation, comments, manuals, specifications, technical articles, wiki documentation, and more. Maybe even magazine articles and books.
This talk discusses some practicalities of writing well, both stylistically and practically. We'll talk about prose, but also about the right "geek" way of writing, the storage formats, toolchains, and the storage of our words.
We'll cover:
  • writing style
  • what's appropriate: what to write what not to write
  • keeping track: "source control" for words
  • toolchains: what toolsets to use to write and prepare output
  • markup languages vs "wysiwyg" tools
  • sharing your words with non-geeks
At the end of this talk, you'll have a good idea how to put together an example "document toolchain" taking source-controlled words in a humane markup style, and creating high-quality HTML, PDF (fully styled, print-ready) ePub and Kindle output, as well as Word-friendly versions.