Engineering

The Codemotion Madrid 2018 with about 2000 attendees and with over 50 talks in up-to 7 tracks in parallel was hosted by Codemotion in the Kinepolis in Madrid. In the next few passages I briefly summarize some of my highlights of this inspiring and eventful days.

Visions of the Future Digital Education (Arduino) - David Cuartielles

David Cuartielles, the co-founder of the Arduino project, talked about the introduction of hardware hacking in schools. The usage of relatively simple micro-controller platform allows kids to create their own projects with a relatively low learning curve. This results in high motivation and an significant learning effect for pupils. He talked about the large-scale rollout of this education field in Sweden and his vision to support the digital education in more countries.

Coding the 7 steps of machine learning - Yufeng Guo

Yufeng Guo, Developer Advocate at Google, presented a comprehensive and practical guide to machine learning. In 7 steps he explained the basics and the theory of machine learning:

1. Obtain the needed information (“Gathering Data”)
2. Make the necessary steps to make data evaluable (“Preparing that Data”)
3. Select a sufficient Machine Learning Model (“Choosing a Model”)
4. Begin the process of training (“Training”)
5. Validate the Training, e.g. by running against known data and check the results (“Evaluation”)
6. Reconsider the settings of the Machine Learning Model, called Hyperparameter (“Hyperparameter Tuning”)
7. Use the created model to analyze “unknown” data (“Prediction”)

The Early Days of Id Software: Programming Principles - John Romero

Another fun talk was the “The Early Days of id Software” from game developer John Romero - as I grew up with his games it was a very interesting perspective on the development of the first games and the foundation and growth of id software. He described how the company developed from a small project in a beach house to a company that is known throughout the world. They started with a demo for “Super Mario Bros 3” as a sample that they created for a PC version of the console version that got rejected by Nintendo und eventually ended up as the engine of Commander Keen. It was the hour of birth for game engines which helped them to create multiple games in less time (e.g. the complete “Commander Keen” trilogy).

How to develop decentralized apps in the blockchain of Ethereum - Adolfo Sanz De Diego

Adolfo Sanz De Diego explained the usage of smart contracts in Ethereum and explained the development of a small example application in his talk which made it possible to place donations for NGOs. The sample application can be used to understand the development workflow for a decentralized application within the Ethereum blockchain and he described the usage of a local test environment with the help of Ganache.

Can't you stop looking at your phone? - Marta Peirano

The conference ended with a very critical talk of the author Marta Peirano. She talked about the dangers of the information bubbles in social networks that are created by algorithms that show people only what they allegedly “want” to see and limit the spectrum of information they get. Another important criticism from her part was the addictiveness of mobile devices. She compared the smartphone-addictiveness to compulsive gambling and described how in some cases people get addicted to the machine itself and not the content it provides.

The 2 days at the Kinepolis in Madrid were really inspiring and worth it, for that I want to say a big thank you to the organizers of the conference from my side.