The Tool List from Kalamazoo X

Here is the list of tools that I mentioned (and some I forgot to mention) during my talk at Kalamazoo X.

Communication and Collaboration

1. Basecamp
2. AgileZen
3. Google docs 
4. Google sites
5. Trac
6. Bugzilla
7. Tiddlywiki
8. Pivotal Tracker

Source Control

1. git
2. github 
3. mercurial
4. bitbucket
5. Subversion
6. Tortoise SVN
7. Google code
8. unfuddle

Builder Servers and Continuous Integration

1. Hudson
2. TeamCity
3. Cruise Control
4. Cruise Control .Net
5. Cruise Control rb

Text Editors

1. Vim
2. emacs
3. e text editor
4. textmate
5. Notepad ++
6. Scite

Command Shell

1. Cygwin
2. Powershell

Scripting Languages

1. Ruby
2. Python

Books

1. Pragmatic Programmer
2. Productive Programmer
   
   

Countdown to Kal-X

On April 10th I’ll be attending one of my favorite conferences, Kalamazoo X. This will be the second year for the X conference, a one day, one track, no code conference. Each session will be 30 minutes long this year, and there are some great speakers and sessions lined up.

I really enjoyed the one-track format of Kal-X last year, because everybody was in the same conversation. Since we had all been to the same sessions lunch became like a big open space, recap combo.

The non-coding part opens the conference up to more than just developers. There were managers, designers, marketers, and students there last year. It was a great mix, and lead to some great questions during the conference.

I’m going to take a half hour break from being an attendee to be a speaker this year, as well. I’m going to give 30 minutes on what tools your dev team should have to be more efficient and help you build higher quality software. There will be a few tools for the whole team, and a few suggestions for the individual to employ.

If you’re looking for a one-day conference that will get the wheels turning, I can’t recommend Kal-X enough.

Oh, and there’s this little brewery in Kalamazoo… :)

Some April Kanban Talks

I'm happy to have been selected to two conferences in the region to share an hour or so of Kanban, and my experiences with it.

The first will be at Central Ohio Day of .Net on April 18th in Wilmington. This is a great little conference that combines the forces of the dev communities of Dayton, Cincy, and Columbus for a day of geeking out. In addition to the great sessions they have lined up, there will also be Open Spaces. If you've got time on a Saturday in the spring, this is a great gathering at a great price...free!

The following Saturday, April 25th, I'm going to trek north and present at the Kalamazoo X conference. This is the first year for this conference, and it looks really interesting. It's focus is on the non-tech side of development, so there will be lots of dev process, design, and user interaction type talks. All the stuff we need to know without opening up our favorite IDE. As an added bonus, this place is in Kalamazoo for a required stop.

That will keep a couple Saturday afternoons busy in April for me. Now, if a certain local hockey team can keep the Saturday evenings busy...