Post XP Universe 2002

redsquirrel on 2002-08-08T06:33:25

XP Universe 2002 has ended and it was amazing. I learned a lot of stuff, but that goes without saying, since I know so little. But what was even more valuable about my time there was the informal interactions I had with people.

I got to know 6 Chicago-based guys and this is really cool. All of them attend ChAD and the conversations we had were excellent. It is so energizing to talk with people who get excited about the same things I do.

Tuesday had some big highlights for me:

  • Participated in a live XP mini-project developing a Ruby web application. I am now very interested in Ruby.
  • While I was coding with my pair, Ron Jeffries and Martin Fowler stood behind us for about 10 minutes, watching.
  • At lunch there was an empty seat next to me for a while. Then there wasn't. Kent Beck sat next to me. It was awesome to be able to talk to him about OpenSpace and his upcoming book Test-Driven Development.
I can't wait to start my new position at work now!