What is the best conference in the United States for Software Developers

Question

Nowadays, it seems like conferences for software developers are disappearing. The last one I attended was the Tulsa TechFest and OWASP Hartford. I am curious if there are events that are not on my radar that should be? The criteria I seek:

• Multiple day format
• Speakers are practitioners, not vendors and industry analysts
• Under $400
• In an area where hotel rooms can be had for around $100 a night
• Decent food

Answer 1

My favorite was always Dr. Dobbs Architecture and Design World in Chicago. But apparently the magazine is doing poorly (they even stopped printed issues) and there is no new information for this conference for year 09... or was it renamed or merged?

Answer 2

I would doubt that anyone except presenters on the conference circuit could attend a sufficiently large cross-section to make a worthwhile judgment, however subjective. Even then, someone who is prominent at a lot of Java or .NET conferences is unlikely to have equal stature in the opposite camp. All this is in addition to the metric for "best".

I like James McGovern, but I find it hard to believe that OWASP Hartford would be high on anybody's best conference list. I'm surprised to see it cited.

I should have noted that the quality of an experience like a conference or a class has several components, of which the presenter is only one. I get the most out of a class or presentation when the material and my ability to absorb it match. A great presentation that's over my head, lacking sufficient context to absorb it, does me little good. Even the best rudimentary material will quickly descend to the level of a retold favorite bedtime story if I'm too too familiar with it. The message and my receptivity have to match.

Answer 3

I don't think there is a best conference. There's just a best conference for you.

Some conferences I've enjoyed:

• No Fluff Just Stuff - great great speakers (due to their time on the tour, they are the best), solid technical content, comes to (or near) your town
• JavaOne - if you're a Java dude, JavaOne is the place to be (at least till it becomes OracleOne) :)
• CodeMash - lot of fun in a different kind of venue

I also have to plug my own nascent conference coming this October 23, 2009 in St. Louis:

• Strange Loop

Answer 4

I'd vote for OSCON, see http://en.oreilly.com/oscon2009 -- but I guess that's only good if you ARE into open source (which I am, myself;-). Diff'rent strokes, and all that...

Answer 5

Guys, I am in the process of building a workshop, and would appreciate some feedback on what you guys are looking for.

See thread:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1562029/help-with-starting-development-programming-workshop-feedback-needed

Thanks.