Speaking: ADC 2016

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: Nordevcon

I'll be speaking on Friday at Nordevcon in Norwich.

I'll be giving
 my Becoming a Better Programmer talk, and it should be great fun. Nordevcon has a strong line up this year, so it looks to be a great conference.

Speaking: Juce Summit

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.

Speaking: XP Days Ukraine, 2015

I'm giving an opening presentation at XP Days Ukraine in October.

The talk is called Becoming a Better Programmer.

Find out more about this conference here. Looks like it will be really interesting.

Speaking: CodeConf 2015

I'll be giving the closing keynote at GitHub's CodeConf 2015 in Nashville this month.

Find out more from the conference's website here: http://codeconf.com.

The talk is called Becoming a Better Programmer.

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

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

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

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)

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.

Speaking: Running Effective Rehearsals

I'll be speaking at The Worship Collective conference in Cambridge, UK on June 29th. This is an awesome event for musicians and worship leaders.

I'm leading a seminar entitled Running Effective Rehearsals. Obviously, this is a really practical subject, but I promise it'll be fun too. Hopefully there will be some practical wisdom to apply, and some encouraging advice to take away.

Speaking: ACCU 2013

I'll be speaking at the ACCU 2013 software developer's conference in Bristol this April.

The session title is "Becoming a Better Programmer" (which you may have noticed has become a long-running theme with my recent work).

It promises to be a fun informative session with a few special guests and some twists.

As ever, this is set to be an excellent conference. You can check out more details on the conference website.

Speaking: Worship Collective 2012

Adding to my speaking engagements this summer, I'll be leading a session at the Worship Collective conference at C3 in Cambridge.

I'll be taking a seminar for the keyboard players, where we'll look at technique, working in a band, attitudes, and a hand-picked selection of interesting, useful, and practical stuff.

Speaking: Mobile East

I'll be speaking at the Mobile East developer conference next week, on Advanced iOS Development.

Session details are here for your viewing pleasure. Selected highlights:


This presentation will take you from a basic level of understanding of iOS to look at advanced topics that will make you apps more polished, better designed and, ideally, more successful. 


Abstract concepts are no use, so in this talk we'll take some existing successful commercial iOS applications as a case study, and see how a selection of iOS technologies and techniques combine within it.

Speaking: BCS Newcastle

I will be speaking at BCS Newcastle on the 25th January. I'll be giving my iOS development talk; a quick start in developing applications for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.

Here's the synopsis:


The iPhone, iPad and their iOS relatives are becoming an increasingly popular and important platform. More and more developers are looking into what the platform can offer and how to harness its power for their products.


In this presentation, an experienced iOS developer provides a boot-strap in iPhone development. The talk is an overview of how to get started as an iPhone developer. You will gain an understanding of the platform, the tools, and the core technologies, including:

• The main languages: Objective C/C++
• Using the Xcode IDE, and various deployment/testing tools
• Common iPhone/Mac OS design patterns, idioms, and practices
• Becoming a native: how to “think in iPhone”
• An overview of the libraries and facilities that exist
• Limitations of the development environment.

We’ll see the pros and cons of iPhone development. You will leave with an understanding of how to deploy your applications on the device, and whether it is the right platform for you to target.

Speaking: ACCU 2012

I will be speaking at the ACCU 2012 conference in Oxford, UK this April.

I'm giving two presentations this year, both this year on version control:

• Version Control Done Right, and
• Getting into Git

Version control is never a laugh a minute topic, but I plan on these talks being interesting as well as informative. There will be the requisite amount of jumping, tomfoolery and general barefooted nonsense that regular attendees have come to expect.

This year's ACCU conference programme looks very strong, with understandable focus on C++ since the ink is still drying on the newest version of the language standard. But it still covers a broad range of topics, so there's something for everyone.

If you care about programming and live in proximity of Englandshire, I strongly suggest you check out this conference. It's one of the highlights of my programming year.

Becoming a Better Programmer

My Becoming a Better Programmer presentation given at ACCU 2011 has been very popular recently. It's one of the most-viewed presentations on slideshare this month.

At the time of writing, there have been more than 12,500 views of the entire presentation.

That is both exciting and flattering - and nice to know that developers truly do care about improving their skills. And nice to know that I have been able to help.

Check it out here.

Speaking: ACCU 2011 slides available

The slides from all of my ACCU 2011 talks are now available for your viewing pleasure on SlideShare.

Find them here:

• Becoming a Better Programmer
• Manyfestos
• Coping With Complexity
• Three Objectionable Things

Thanks for all the great feedback!

If you're interested in me giving these talks for you, then get in touch.

Speaking: ACCU 2011

I will be speaking at the ACCU 2011 conference in Oxford this month.

My talk is entitled Becoming a Better Programmer, and it's going to be great fun. And hopefully very useful, too. This year green is very much the new blue. Details (intentionally vague) on the session are here.

I will also be speaking in the Key practices to cope with complexity session (details here). Let's hope I don't make my contribution needlessly complex.

[ios] iOS Development talk slides available

The slides from my popular iOS development talk, last given at BCS Edinburgh are available for you to view on Slideshare.

To view them, follow this link.

Speaking: BCS Edinburgh (iOS development)

I will be speaking at the Edinburgh branch of the BCS on the subject of iPhone development on March the 9th.

The details of the session, times, and location are available here.

Here's the synopsis:

Developing applications for iPhone, iPad (and other iOS devices)

"An introduction to iPhone development for beginners or those who are casually interested and want a leg up the learning curve"

The iPhone, iPad and their iOS relatives are becoming an increasingly popular and important platform. More and more developers are looking into what the platform can offer and how to harness its power for their products.

In this presentation, an experienced iOS developer provides a boot-strap in iPhone development. The talk is an overview of how to get started as an iPhone developer. You will gain an understanding of the platform, the tools, and the core technologies, including:

• The main languages: Objective C/C++
• Using the Xcode IDE, and various deployment/testing tools
• Common iPhone/Mac OS design patterns, idioms, and practices
• Becoming a native: how to "think in iPhone"
• An overview of the libraries and facilities that exist
• Limitations of the development environment.

We'll see the pros and cons of iPhone development. You will leave with an understanding of how to deploy your applications on the device, and whether it is the right platform for you to target.