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NFJS / Java World Podcast


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May. 14 - Dallas, TX
10 Ways to Improve Your Code
by Neal Ford
JavaMUG - more »
May. 15 - Salt Lake City, UT
Thorough Introduction to Groovy
by Jeff Brown
Utah Java Users Group - more »
May. 20 - St. Paul, Minnesota
The Busy Developer's Guide to Scala by Ted Neward
by Ted Neward
Object Technology User Group - more »
Jun. 11 - Calgary, AB
Core Groovy
by Andrew Glover
Calgary Java Users Group - more »
Jun. 11 - Dallas, Texas
Grails - Agile Web 2.0 The Easy Way
by Jeff Brown
JavaMUG - more »

Private Events

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Blogs

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    Apparently, there's a virus attack. Not a computer virus. A real virus. Hot zone instead of a hot spot.From my inbox this morning: more»

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    Enterprise, Virtual Machine and Language Wonk

    A couple of folks have taken me to task over some of the things I said... or didn't say... in my last blog piece. So, in no particular... more»

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    It's good to read a story like this every now and again just to remind yourself how bad it is in some places. more»

  • Mike Levin

    Software Developer specializing in Web2.0 websites

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  • Kirk Knoernschild

    Software Developer & Mentor

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  • Guillaume LaForge

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  • Venkat Subramaniam

    Founder of Agile Developer, Inc.

    Earlier today I blogged about the more»

  • Jeff Brown

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  • Craig Walls

    Author of Spring in Action

    I read thi s last night, but I have seen this coming for over a year. more»

  • Neal Ford

    Application Architect at ThoughtWorks, Inc.

    In the movie 200 more»

  • Andrew Glover

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    On more than one occasion, I’ve been asked by various hip developers if there was a conversion script for transforming existing Ant... more»

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    Author of Getting Started with Grails

    Muness blogged a photographic introductio more»

  • David Bock

    Principal Consultant, CodeSherpas Inc.

    Installing CentOS 5, ImageMagick, and RMagick I don‘t normally blog about obscure, specific technical topics, mainly because 99% of more»

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    Chief Architect at Near Infinity

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    Brian Pontarelli - founder of Inversoft

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  • Pete Behrens

    Organizational Agility Coach

    Marti nig & Associates Methods & Tools group recentl more»

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  • Richard Monson-Haefel

    VP of Developer Relations, Curl Inc.

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  • Brian Sam-Bodden

    Java author, Ruby geek and Open Source Advocate

    In this installment we are going to build the Dashboard page of the Tempo application. T more»

  • Mark Fisher

    Spring Integration Lead

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    Chief Software Architect, Quantcast

    I'm looking forward to speaking at The Rich Web Experience conference in San Jose next month. The event runs from September 7th through 9th.... more»

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  • Romain Guy

    Java User Interface expert.

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  • Ramnivas Laddad

    Author of AspectJ in Action, Principal at Interface21

    InfoQ.com has published my AOP myths and realities talk recorded at a No Fluff Just Stuff conference. InfoQ.com founded by Floyd Marine more»

  • David Geary

    Author of Graphic Java Swing and Co-author of Core JSF

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  • Jason Hunter

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Reviews


Have you been to a NFJS symposium? Do you want to contribute a review to this site? Tell us about your experience.

New England Software Symposium     April 04 - 06, 2008
Glad I attended NFJS!
Going to NFJS was well worth the investment in myself! My only regret is that I couldn't attend more sessions as there wasn't one single time slot all weekend which didn't contain at least one session of interest, and many times I had to make painful choices between two or three different sessions I wanted to attend.

The format of NFJS is much more intimate due to the smaller size than some of the mondo-sized conferences I've been to in the past. The pace was also much more intense than I thought it might be, which completely eliminated any temptation to snooze. The content really is focussed and presented in an organized way which allows people to soak in a lot of material in a relatively short amount of time. I highly recommend NFJS!


Posted by NESS2008SE 2008 Attendee on Apr. 11, 2008
A Top Notch Experience
If you're in the Agile Java space (or even if you're just in the Agile space) and you're not attending No Fluff Just Stuff shows, you're doing yourself and your employer a great disservice. The New England Software Symposium was by far the best learning experience that I've had in my career. I took home more that I can immediately apply to my job today than from any other show that I've attended. You cannot find this quality at this price ANYWHERE ELSE! And if I were a betting man, I'd almost wager that you cannot find this quality at any price anywhere else. Kudos to Jay Zimmerman, speakers, and company for putting on an awesome experience. Just like today's dynamic languages, low on ceremony, high on essence.

Posted by Matt Stine on Apr. 7, 2008
Great Lakes Software Symposium     November 16 - 18, 2007
Great speakers and very good topics
I really want to all the speakers and organizers for putting such kind of training. This was my first NFJS training and it was really awesome. I had been to javaone but somehow I was lost in the crowd. This one is really small group of people, great topics, and good price too.




Posted by GLSS 2007 Attendee on Nov. 26, 2007
Northern Virginia Software Symposium     November 02 - 04, 2007
Northern Va Software Symposium - Reston 2007
Great as always! I was able to use the talks i attended on Groovy/Grails immediately! I've worked up a prototype, which i will present at the office. I was able to get a demo up and working in short order from using the slides from the conference.
Very well organized and good venue. Since I'm contracting now, I had to pay for it on my own dime. Well worth the money and only missed one day of work. Hotel was reasonable as well.


Patti Richards


Posted by Patti Richards on Nov. 25, 2007
Greater Toronto Software Symposium     October 19 - 21, 2007
Great, but one small dissapointement
My 3rd time attending a NFJS Symposium was every bit as good as I had hoped. I came away with many new ideas and have a long list of technologies to explore further. I will be back next year, and continue to recommend NFJS to my peers.


Thanks.
-mark

Posted by Mark Bolusmjak on Oct. 23, 2007
Twin Cities Software Symposium     October 12 - 14, 2007
great conference
Jay,
Congratulations on putting together another great conference. This was my 2nd. There's no doubt that your speakers are incredible. I wanted to leave with some feel for the pulse of the industry, and that's exactly what I got. I now can set my sights on picking up some new skills such as Groovy. Speakers like Brian Sletten and Ted Neward left me feeling inspired and even have an open source project idea that I plan to explore.

Thanks so much and continued success!

Kurt


Posted by Kurt Hartmann on Oct. 15, 2007
Greater Atlanta Software Symposium     October 05 - 07, 2007
Greater Atlanta Software Symposium - October 05 - 07, 2007
It was a good experience where we get good pointers to see where the technology is moving towards. I specially liked presentations by Neal Ford , Brian Goetz and Scott Davis.


Posted by 2007 Attendee on Oct. 10, 2007
Gateway Software Symposium     September 28 - 30, 2007
NFJS 1 Boredom 0

The skinny:

-- A no-brainer if your company will pay, or if you've never been. If it's your own $, it's a personal decision but IMHO it's quality stuff and a good value. This was #6 for me (several were paid by employers).

-- Someone below mentioned Terracotta: Alex Miller was there with an excellent talk on Terracotta and Hibernate.

-- The legendary Dave T has set a high bar for keynotes. In March, Scott Davis matched it. Did Ted Neward deliver the goods? (Hint: yes).

More details (and pics) at
NFJS 1 Boredom 0

Posted by Michael Easter on Oct. 6, 2007
Lone Star Software Symposium: Austin     Jun. 29 - Jul. 01, 2007
NFJS Rocks
Overview of NFJS, Austin 2007

Excellent work guys!

Posted by Sammy Larbi on Jul. 16, 2007
Rocky Mountain Software Symposium     May 04 - 06, 2007
Excellent sessions.
As always there's always 2 sessions that I want to attend for the same timeslot but I have never been disappointed attending one of these. I would like to see a session on Terracotta in the future.

Posted by RMSS 2007 Attendee on May. 7, 2007
Northern Virginia Software Symposium     April 27 - 29, 2007
Blogged review of Northern Virgina Software Symposium
I have blogged a review of the Norrthern Virginia Software Symposium at:

http://www.jmenard.com/blog/2007/04/30/ no_fluff_just_stuff_2007_recap_of_the_northern_virginia_software_symposium.html


Posted by Jason Menard on Apr. 30, 2007
Greater Oregon Software Symposium     April 20 - 22, 2007
GOSS NFJS
http://curious-attempt-bunny.blogspot.com/2007/04/nfjs-tapestry-5-and-other-hot-topics.html

Posted by Merlyn Albery-Speyer on Apr. 25, 2007
Gateway Software Symposium     March 16 - 18, 2007
NFJS 07: the Gateway Review

I've attended NFJS for 5 years now. This one was very good. I'll be back.

The ultra-skinny:

-- The JVM may be the platform of the future for more than just Java: meet Groovy and JRuby.

-- The plot thickens with respect to web frameworks, and yet the right choice is still not obvious.

-- Can there be a NFJS without Dave Thomas? (answer: yes)

For a much longer review/insights:

http://codetojoy.blogspot.com

Posted by Michael Easter on Mar. 19, 2007
Excellent Conference!
Overall I thought the NFJS conference was excellent. They had both beginner and advanced sessions to suit everyone's needs.

The coverage by Scott Davis and Jeff Brown on Groovy and Grails were really well put together. I've already downloaded both Groovy and Grails and written a simple test app using Grails.



Posted by David Knipp on Mar. 19, 2007
New England Software Symposium     March 09 - 11, 2007
2007 event
The workshop had a lot of good content. Only complaint was that often several sessions I wanted to attend were held at the same time so it hard making the choice on one.

Thanks for holding such a good event. No hype, no fluff -- just tech talk.

Posted by Jason Mathews on Mar. 12, 2007
Greater Wisconsin Software Symposium     March 02 - 04, 2007
Enjoyed the conference fully!
Ted Neward is an excellent speaker. He has an expert, commanding sense of the subject matter. He is willing to talk to you on your level to ensure the concept or idea is being conveyed correctly. I am glad I got to hear him present at my second NJFS and hope he continues to speak at NFJS.

Thank you Jay and the other speakers for a great experience. Hope to attend again late this year.


Posted by Tyler Osborne on Mar. 6, 2007
Northern Virginia Software Symposium     November 03 - 05, 2006
Feedback
Great Weekend! Second time i've attended. Good organization and venue. The main thing i find difficult is choosing which talk to attend for each time slot.
I especially enjoyed Venkat's talk on the agile developer. I think i can apply many of tips at my workplace.
I would love to see more SOA and enterprise service bus, or application integration type talks in the future.
I will definitely be back! I feel re-energized.
PS. Food was great too.


Posted by Patti Richards on Nov. 6, 2006
Lone Star Software Symposium: Dallas     October 27 - 29, 2006
Excellent Value
The level of expertise presented here, available at the given price, is almost unbelievable. A great opportunity to catch up with the developments of the Java community; efficient and to the point.

And, contrary to the geek stereotype, I prefer something other than pizza – the food was delicious.

Posted by LSSS2006Dallas 2006 Attendee on Nov. 1, 2006
Lone Star Software Symposium: Dallas
I attended No Fluff Just Stuff in Dallas this previous weekend. I posted a short blog entry on it here:

http://netsmith.blogspot.com/2006/10/no-fluff-just-stuff-2006-dallas.html

Thanks for putting together a technically focused event without all the marketing that typically embues these types of things.

Regards,
Matthew Smith

Posted by Matthew Smith on Oct. 31, 2006
New England Software Symposium     Sep. 29 - Oct. 01, 2006
great speakers!
Hi,
I attended this symposium in boston and it was awesome.The speakers were really good and particularly I enjoyed Ramnivas(AOP) and Mark Richards(EJB3) presentations. Good work guys, keep it up!

Posted by NESS 2006 Attendee on Oct. 5, 2006
Great Event!
It was a great event in Boston. I would recommend No Fluff over many of the "other" conferences out there. **cough** sun one stinks **cough**

Posted by Eric Kinsella on Oct. 5, 2006
Pacific Northwest Software Symposium     September 15 - 17, 2006
Comments about the Symposium
I think this is the best conference I've been to yet, at least from the perspective of "learning stuff". Every presentation I went to was informative. Each speaker was a practitioner (as distinct from a salesperson), and most of them were pretty fun to listen to.

I'll go again as soon as I have a chance.



Posted by Kelly Schrock on Sep. 23, 2006
Seminar Comments
If you are a serious java developer you should consider this symposium. The event is well run and information is presented by technical professionals who have real world experience. I was able to learn more about specific areas of interest and was exposed to a wide array of resources and solutions which I had not previously considered. An excellent experience.

Posted by STEVE HALL on Sep. 22, 2006
Agile Development, JavaScript, Groovy, Ajax
Very good information and excellent instruction. I learned alot and hope to attend more conferences in the future. Hand outs and discs make nice references.

Posted by Chris Gerber on Sep. 21, 2006
Desert Southwest Software Symposium     July 28 - 30, 2006
NFJS Phoenix, take 2
I spent the last three days at the Desert Southwest Software Symposium in Phoenix, AZ, a stop on the No Fluff Just Stuff tour. If you have not yet been to one of these, I highly recommend them. The breadth of topics and the depth of the speakers' knowledge is amazing, attendance is limited, and I have yet to attend a session in which I didn't learn something new. Jay Zimmerman and crew do a fabulous job with these shows.

... continued at http://blog.wsmoak.net/item/31


Posted by Wendy Smoak on Aug. 7, 2006
Lone Star Software Symposium: Austin     July 07 - 09, 2006
A Great Experience
It was a great experience to be in NFJS 06 symmposium. I like the presentations targetted Java 5 and related technologies. There were some presentations targetting isolated technical areas like AOP, Agile, Enterprise Development or SOA. And the technologies like Spring, Ruby, JSF, JavaScripts, Ajax etc. It was great to get in touch with the latest technologies in the software community. And it was nice to see the shortcomings of some old technologies which we thaught we some excellent solutions.

Thanks
Lasantha Kularatne

Posted by Lasantha Kularatne on Jul. 20, 2006
LSSS - worth it
Attendees were asked to let you know if we blogged about the Symposium.

http://www.schneeworld.com/roller/page/schnee?entry=no_fluff_just_stuff

Posted by LSSS2006Austin 2006 Attendee on Jul. 11, 2006
Central Florida Software Symposium     June 02 - 04, 2006
Definitely a worthwhile weekend...
Thanks for another great conference and great presentations! I had fun and am really excited about all of the stuff I learned. Can't wait for next year and love my new iPod. :-)

Posted by Julie Deily on Jun. 26, 2006
Greater Nebraska Software Symposium     Mar. 31 - Apr. 02, 2006
Wow!
This conference couldn't have turned out better, despite the stormy weather. The presenters are all first rate--they don't just talk about this stuff; most all have invaluable real-world experience they are willing to share. There is honestly not a dud in the bunch. I'm invigorated (if not a little brain-sore) and anxious to implement some of the techniques and ideas that I walked away with.

Seriously, if you are a Java web developer, you owe it to yourself to attend one of these conferences, even if you have to foot the bill yourself.

Posted by Jeff Wild on Apr. 3, 2006
New England Software Symposium     September 23 - 25, 2005
I had a fantastic time
I had a great time this weekend at the New England No Fluff Just Stuff conference. The speakers were some of the best I've ever heard (I've been to JavaOne twice and I've taken numerous other technical courses). One way to measure the quality of the session / speaker is by how many people walk out during the first 10 or 15 minutes. At JavaOne you'll see an awful lot of people sit down, listen for 5-10 minutes and then walk out. I saw very few people leaving sessions early, which is a testament to both the speakers and the topics. Also, the lack of a conference sponsor gives the speakers the ability to tell it like it is, which is the way it should be.

Keep up the great work!

AJ

Posted by Aaron Johnson on Sep. 26, 2005
Research Triangle Software Symposium     June 10 - 12, 2005
An incredibly rewarding experience!
I attended the RTP NFJS for the first time this year and I can't say I have any regrets. I was a little skeptical about spending an unpaid weekend at a software conference, but the experience ended up being so valuable to me that I am seriously considering attending the Charlotte conference in October as well.

Where should I start? The quality of the speakers is top-notch. I've listened to technically savvy speakers before, but none held my attention like those at NFJS. These guys know their stuff and are incredibly effective at communicating it to others. It's so easy to just talk about a subject without actually caring about it, but the passion these guys have for what they're talking about really shines through at NFJS.

Secondly, the topics chosen by the speakers are incredibly relevant to the work I'm doing. The things I learned on the first day of the conference were immediately applicable to my work. For example, Glenn's talk on JavaScript absolutely stunned me. I had no idea the language was so rich and complex. After attending NFJS, I returned to work on Monday feeling much more equipped to apply the right tools to the tasks I had before me.

Additionally, I felt energized after being around so many other developers who are so passionate about their work. Attend an NFJS conference and you are truly hanging out with the "best of the best." The atmosphere is positively infectious and you'll come away wondering how you ever lived without the NFJS experience. I will certainly be attending again next year, and more frequently if at all possible. Give NFJS a try! You won't regret it.

Posted by Matthew Bass on Jul. 3, 2005
Thanks!
I attended the RTP symposium with high expectations, and those expectations were significantly exceeded! Kudos to NFJS for selecting an excellent array of speakers and topics and for organizing an all-around top-notch event!

Compare this symposium to common alternatives for advancing one’s software development knowledge. You could spend $2,700 for a class on web services (yawn) and enjoy a week covering a single topic. The course will surely be filled with half-interested developers and a handful of middle managers just trying to escape work for a week. And oh yeah, expect some fluff.

On the other hand, you could attend an NFJS symposium for ¼ of that price, learn about a vast assortment of interesting and applicable technologies from renowned experts…all in the company of truly-engaged participants (i.e. people willing to give up a weekend to further their skills)!!! And without a doubt, your entire experience is 100% free of all fluff and marketing.

A big thanks to NFJS and the lineup of first-class speakers!




Posted by Jason Rudolph on Jun. 15, 2005
Reasons to attend
Please see http://srivaths.blogspot.com/2005/06/reasons-to-attend-nofluffjuststuff.html

Posted by Sri Sankaran on Jun. 13, 2005
Northern Virginia Software Symposium     May 20 - 22, 2005
Lives up to its name
This was my first time attending NFJS. I've been to other conferences, but they had a lot of "fluff" compared to NFJS. Except for those sessions where it wasn't necessary, every session I attended had lots of coding examples. I actually learned a lot of useful things which I felt I could go back to work and apply or use. The number of attendees was very small, which allowed better interaction with the speakers (and a better chance of winning an iPod.) There was even one session where the speaker knew everyone's name!

You give up a weekend, but you get a lot in return. It is well worth the time and money spent to go to NFJS, and I will definitely be attending again!

Posted by NVSS 2005 Attendee on Oct. 31, 2005

Have you been to a NFJS symposium? Do you want to contribute a review to this site? Tell us about your experience.

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