6 Things we learned from NextStep 2022
The OutSystems conference of the year just happened. After three days full of tech-talks and keynotes, we’ve learned a lot. And you can too. So here are our six key take-aways from NextStep 2022:
- High Performance Low-Code is here to stay
High performance low-code (HPLC) means that you can deploy whenever you want. You can make changes daily and your failure rate is close to zero. OutSystems wants every customer to be in the high performance category. And they plan to do this with OutSystems Developer Cloud. Previously known as Project Neo. ODC is cloud-native and combines existing concepts from Outsystems 11 (O11) into one platform. This makes relying on extra tools a thing of the past.
2. AI is taking over
AI will play a role in every aspect of the platform. From improving productivity, security and architecture to minimizing technical debt. We’re already used to the AI suggestions in O11. But we’re still waiting on the real power of AI. We hope OutSystems new AI Mentor System will deliver.
3. Looking further than just OutSystems
Many tech-talks this year were dedicated to services outside of OutSystems. A great example of this is the fuzzy search. Fuzzy search (like the Google search bar) is hard to build without external tools. Because a relational database in general is not best suited for this task. Matthieu de Graaf gave a nice demo on how to achieve fuzzy search with Spinque.
Another great example is the tech-talk given by our own Kilian Croese. By implementing the AWS forge component, Kilian showed how topics and queues could work in your applications. With this loosely coupled implementation, the performance increased drastically. A must-see!
4. No one likes bugs
We learned a lot on how to handle debugging. And for good reason: You can prevent up to 46% of bugs when your process is well thought out.
Miguel Reis explained that understanding what you are going to build is extremely important. You are much less likely to create bugs if you know in detail what the task is all about.
Remko Dekkinga demonstrated how to tackle performance bugs in your code. By using the Chrome dev tools and the OS Architecture dashboard. This session is a great watch if you’re developing reactive apps.
5. Mastering user stories is the key to success
Our own Catarina Carneiro and João Santos gave a session about creating great user stories. They showed how to prepare your project for success. A skill you need to have mastered, so definitely check it out!
6. How we would improve NextStep
Not every conference is created equally. And while NextStep left a good impression on us, there’s always room for improvement. We were sad to see that the conference was mainly held online. For next year, we hope that NextStep will be an on-site event again to improve discussions and be more connected to the event.
OutSystems should also check the tech-talks more. While most of the sessions were interesting and well thought out, some were too short or failed to teach us anything new.
All in all, we enjoyed NextStep 2022. With many interesting sessions, including our own. We learned a lot this year. It’s also interesting to see what OutSystems will improve in O11 and ODC. In any case, be sure to check out our recommended sessions and let us know what you think of this year’s NextStep!
