The NDC Conference in Oslo is an annual event where software developers and tech enthusiasts gather to participate in workshops, attend talks and catch up on the latest trends.
This year’s conference was fantastic, with many exciting presentations. I attended with colleagues from Novanet and NOVA Consulting Group. NDC brings together developers worldwide, and this year was no different. The quality of the stands and catering was impressive, and it was great to reconnect with old colleagues from the industry.
I attended on both Wednesday and Thursday. Here are some highlights and recommendations from my colleagues and me at Novanet. Below are some lightning talks and full presentations worth checking out when available on YouTube.
Lightning talks:
Hallstein Brøtan: Primitive Collections i EF Core 8.0
A highlight was my colleague Hallstein Brøtan's lightning talk on Primitive Collections in EF Core 8.0. He highlighted the improved performance and reduced complexity that EF Core 8.0 offers with support for primitive collections, especially useful for developers handling large data sets.
Karl Solgård: Building a Home Server Using Kubernetes on Old Laptops: A Sustainable Approach to Minimizing E-Waste - Karl Solgård
Karl Solgård's talk on building a home server using Kubernetes on old laptops was inspiring. He showed how k3s, a lightweight Kubernetes distribution, can turn outdated hardware into a functional home server. His humorous approach demonstrated how tech enthusiasts can repurpose old devices, reduce e-waste, and gain Kubernetes experience.
Einar Høst: Why your AI generated talk abstract was rejected for NDC Oslo
Einar Høst reflected on the rise of AI-generated talk abstracts submitted to NDC Oslo and explained why many were rejected. He offered insights into what makes a compelling and relevant talk proposal.
Nick Chapsas: Cursed C#
Attended a fun talk on C# called "Cursed C#." The speaker dove deep into the features such as operator overloading and creative use of extension methods of the language to make these valid variable declarations
DateOnly birthday = 5.April(1997);
DateOnly birthday2 = "Thirteenth July 2008";Most of us would never even think about using them, but it was fun discovering strange possibilities hidden under the familiar surface. Chapsas is a well-known Youtuber, and he admitted that he enjoys playing around and seeing what can be achieved doing things that shouldn’t be done. Spoiler: you probably shouldn’t use these tricks in your daily work, but the talk was a nice addition to the NDC agenda.
Ian Cooper: Being Staff Plus
Ian Cooper is a charismatic presenter, and the talk revolved around taking more responsibility outside of coding when you gain more experience as a technical consultant. Cooper emphasized that being a Staff Plus engineer isn’t just about having top-notch technical skills. It’s about developing the soft skills needed to influence, guide, and shape the engineering direction of an organization and its teams of technical experts.
I found the session inspiring, and to confirm that using soft skills can make a big impact on a team while still being hands on in the technical work.
Full talks:
Richard Campbell: On becoming a space-faring civilization
Richard Campbell discussed the technologies making space travel more feasible, including advancements in rocket design and the challenges of sustaining long-term space presence. This thought-provoking talk underscored the importance and possibilities of human space exploration.
Richard Campbell: The Future of Energy
One of the highlights was Richard Campbell's talk on "The Future of Energy." He discussed our growing electricity needs, the environmental damage caused, and ways to create sustainable energy solutions. It was eye-opening to see the challenges and possibilities in moving towards a greener future.
Richard Campbell: Space Flight in 2024
Richard Campbell's talk on "Space Flight in 2024" covered the latest developments in space travel and what the next few years might hold for ordinary people dreaming of a trip to space. He discussed possibilities like space hotels, lunar resorts, and further destinations, along with the potential costs. It was thrilling to imagine these sci-fi dreams becoming reality.
Scott Hunter: Keynote, Introducing .NET Aspire - Cloud Native Development for .NET
A must-see was the keynote on ".NET Aspire – Cloud Native Development for .NET." Released at the Microsoft Build conference on May 21st, this new framework transforms .NET into a modern cloud-native platform, enhancing observability, resiliency, scalability, and manageability. The talk demonstrated how to update existing applications, use the new telemetry dashboard, create local and cloud resources, and deploy multi-part apps using various tools. It was exciting to learn about such a groundbreaking release for .NET
Steve Sanderson: How to add genuinely useful AI to your webapp (not just chatbots)
Steve Sanderson’s talk on adding useful AI to web apps was a fantastic opportunity for web developers to learn how to make web UIs more intelligent and productive. He emphasized practical ways to integrate language models into existing web UIs, beyond just chatbots. The session, filled with technical demos in Blazor, MVC/Razor Pages, and C#, focused on end-to-end usage patterns to make users' tasks faster and more enjoyable.
Summary
NDC 2024 was a success, featuring numerous inspiring talks and lightning sessions. For those who couldn’t attend, I highly recommend watching the recordings on YouTube when they become available. There’s a lot to gain from this year’s program!
I look forward to implementing some of these insights in my work and hope to see many of you at future NDC conferences!
If we missed some good talks, please use the comment section!
