This past weekend, I was able to attend the inaugural Boise Code Camp v1.0, a free developers conference assembled by and for the development community in Boise. I did not know what to expect before attending, other than the location would consist of familiar classrooms I have used at the University of Phoenix. I was pleased with both the community turn-out and the selection of courses.

When the snow is as good as it has been in Idaho this winter, it is difficult to give up a Saturday and not go skiing, but I am glad I attended, and I am looking forward to more community events. There is only really so much one can do on their own or discuss at work with peers. I think having a development community provides rejuvenation for the soul. I would have so beaten myself up in high school for saying that, but technology is fun, and it is cool to see new concepts.

I attended courses on Ruby on Rails and Spring for Java and Spring for .net. While lightly familiar with their concepts, I was satisfied with the level of detail that each speaker could attain in such a short period of time, 75 minutes. With sample code and slide presentations, there was enough information demonstrated to enthuse those in attendance. If all that we leave with is excitement for investigating something new, then the speaker has done a fine job.