Are You a Developer? Then These are the Mendix World Sessions for You
Hi there! And thanks for clicking the link to read this blog. My name is Willem van Zantvoort and I am a Mendix MVP and Senior Consultant at TimeSeries. For the past six years I have been building apps with Mendix for a wide variety of companies, ranging from finance to energy and logistics to healthcare. I am also a Mendix World (2016) hackathon winner and love sharing knowledge on our YouTube and Twitch channel.
During the time I have been working with Mendix, I’ve had the opportunity to attend multiple editions of Mendix World. The first time I visited was back in 2014. I was a trainee and only had a few weeks of experience with the platform. It was a relatively small event with around 1500 attendees, and it was almost possible to know all other developers in the community. What I remember most was the announcement of Mendix 5 and the excitement all the developers felt about the new possibilities presented to us.
And it is exactly that which makes Mendix World a must-go for me. Being around a bunch of like-minded people and seeing things that will be possible in the near future. The moment Mendix World 2020 was announced, I felt the excitement of only having to wait just one more year (instead of the previous two) to be presented with another batch of awesome new features that will make my job more fun! Unfortunately, this year presented some global challenges, and Mendix World was canceled.
However, being the innovative company they are, Mendix decided to go fully digital with a new version 2.0 of Mendix World 2020! We have to be realistic and accept that this will not be the kind of Mendix World we are used to. Mind you, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing! Obviously, I will miss being able to engage with all of you in-person.
But on the other hand, I can watch the most anticipated sessions and presentations whenever I want, from the comfort of my own couch. I am also thinking of organizing some sort of digital viewing party with colleagues to add that missing social aspect to this fantastic event and I invite all of you to do the same and share those ideas with other readers and me!
Here is my top 5 list of sessions I want to attend and why I think other developers shouldn’t miss these sessions either!
1. CTO Keynote by Johan den Haan
I can recall Johan’s enthusiastic opening line from last year very well. “Hello Mendix World!” New technological innovations and features in Studio and Studio Pro are what this session is all about.
As always, my most anticipated session is Johan’s keynote speech. Usually, this is on the second day of the event and we’re all hyped up from the day before, only to have that topped by Johan’s news. I expect a lot of new information about Studio Pro, new features and quality-of-life improvements for the platform. Expect a jam-packed hour that will surely energize all of us!
2. Designing for 24/7 Use: Offline-First Mobile App Development by Danny Roest
“Whether it’s your customer going through a tunnel on their commute or a field service employee in a ‘dead zone,’ developing your applications with an offline-first approach enables your mobile apps to work identically whether or not they have a connection.”
More and more often, I hear the need for offline mobile applications. It has been around for a little while now and I feel like it is at the point where all teething problems have been solved (not sure if this translates well from Dutch, but I hope you get the gist). With that in mind, I am very excited to see the latest of the latest and learn what others have built and what best practices we should adopt.
3. Build Better Customer Applications with Multiexperience Development by Simon Black and Dave Brault
“The promise of multi-experience applications is phenomenal: being able to align and connect the optimal user experience for each customer and employee touchpoint through fit-for-purpose applications that make every interaction across the user journey effortless.”
It’s easy to get someone like myself enthusiastic about new technologies and that is why I chose this session as one of my must-attends. As users, we get more and more used to using voice assistants, native apps and chatbots (to name a few) and it was only a matter of time before building these experiences with Mendix would become easier. Of course some of these things are/were already possible but it is always a pleasure to see Mendix’s view on this. Last year we already got a glimpse of Mendix and augmented reality and things have only gotten better since!
4. Getting Things Done with the Data You Need by Andrej Koelewijn and Jon Scolamiero
“Data integration can be a nightmare for getting your job done. The tools and processes that you have to find and share data within your organization can be fractured and inconsistent, at best.”
Did someone say Datahub?! Yes please! Although it doesn’t say ‘Datahub’ in the session title, if you read the agenda it is clearly hinting towards this. A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of getting a first look at what Mendix has built in Studio Pro and let me tell you…it looks very promising! I expect one (or both) of the keynote(s) to address Datahub as well, but I also expect this session to go more in-depth on the subject.
5. Getting Started with React Native by Danny Roest
“Attend this session to discover why React Native is an important skill to know and how Mendix can help developers of all background build React Native applications using low code.”
This final session in my top 5 is a natural choice for me. I have been saying for years that React Native is one of the next skills an all-round Mendix developer should have, and as these years have gone by, I’ve seen it verified over and over. I am excited to learn more about Danny’s (and Mendix’s) vision on this topic.
I hope this blog has been informative, and if not, at least you had a good read. Let me know what you think by getting in touch with me!
You can find me on the Mendix Community Slack @willemvanzantvoort, but you have to register first. Sign up to get in touch with me and thousands of other developers. See you there!
