Labcodes around the world
May was an amazing month for Labcodes. We took part in two international events, one in the USA and other in Germany, as speakers. In PyCon, we talked about Graph databases and User focused API design. In Germany, Mariana spoke in DjangoCon Europe about making complex queries using Django ORM.
PyCon
Pycon is an annual conference that happens in the US since 2003 and is the biggest annual gathering of the Python community. (2014 and 2015 were an exception and the conference was in Montreal). The first edition was in Washington, D.C. and since 2006 was held two consecutive times in the same city. This is the first year in Cleveland and next year it’s also going to be there.
Graph Databases
Our fullstack developer Nicolle talked about Graph Databases. In her presentation, she proposed a scenario where a relational database wouldn’t be the best solution to show how a Graph Database would be a better fit. She talked about the concepts of this data structure as well as its most used management system, Neo4J. She also showed how to work with Neo4J in Python applications using Py2neo.
"As my first PyCon, the event impressed me for the grandiosity: more than 3 thousand people in a huge and comfortable convention center.
Another point that caught my attention was inclusion. Every presentation was transcribed in real time, allowing people who have listening disabilities to follow the content taught. Pronoun indicators on the badge and rooms for parents to leave their children while they enjoyed the event are good examples of inclusion that should be followed by the brazilian events.
As a speaker, I felt very welcomed by the organization team. They sent me a step-by-step guide about all I needed to do before my presentation so everything would go smoothly when I step on stage. They also had a special room with food and beverage available for speakers so they could practice their presentation.
Regarding the event’s talks, some were good, others did not catch my eye (maybe because I was nervous about my own). In the end, I left Cleveland with new ideas about how the Python events in Brazil could improve. I intend to apply this knowledge in Python Northeast 2019." —Nicolle
User focused API Design
In Renato’s presentation, he explained how an API is an user interface, and in that way, how we can improve the process of designing an API using UX process.
He explained why we should use this methodology and how the workflow from product definition to validation should work.
His presentations were clear and thorough, there’s no need for prior knowledge about design or UX.
“This was my second Pycon! You can see my impressions of the first one here. I still didn’t talk to Guido. The conference was awesome, the care that the organizing team took on every detail was amazing. Every detail was thought for a great experience. It was my first time speaking there. I was terrified, but it was ok for the first time speaking in English. Lots to improvement! Hopefully I’ll be in Cleveland again next year!” —Renato
DjangoCon Europe
Just like Pycon, the DjangoCon Europe is an annual convention. It’s happening since 2009. This year it took place in Heidelberg, Germany.
Making smarter queries with advanced ORM resources
In Mariana’s presentation, she has shown how to use Django ORM to make complex queries in relational databases. To demonstrate it, Mariana showed how to apply those resources to real problems. She used two sets of data: Brazilian tax id number, which is called cnpj. and Congress representative’s expenses.
“Before going to DjangoCon Europe I had no idea what would be like to attend my first international conference. After being to many Python conferences in Brazil, I thought I wouldn’t get that same comfortable homecoming feeling I’ve gotten used to. Despite my expectations of having a more technical than social experience, even before the first day I was surprised to see myself surrounded by people I can now consider friends. The community is definitively the strongest point of DjangoCon Europe. Not only the organizers, but also the attendees showed visible efforts to be inclusive and welcoming. Being able talk to and share a meal with the people that develop the tools I work with and seeing they are common people just like us was a life changing experience. It showed me that to also contribute in those tools only requires to ask someone; ‘how can I help?’. I’ve even got to have a pull request approved on Channels.” —Mariana
All this things gave us more experience about international conferences, and it made us think about how we can improve the experience in Brazilian conferences.
If you have any questions about our experience, leave a comment or visit us.
