Esri Developer Summit Tackles Technical Topics
Developers Will Meet in California in March 2007 to Sharpen Their GIS Software Skills
Software developers seeking expertise in adding components of geography, mapping, and spatial analysis to their applications and Web services will find the answers at the upcoming Esri Developer Summit in Palm Springs, California.
 Mike Shaw (right), an Esri software product engineer, takes time to answer an attendee's question after delivering a technical session at the 2006 Esri Developer Summit in Palm Springs. |
The summit, set for March 19–22, 2007, at the Wyndham Hotel and Palm Springs Convention Center, will include a series of in-depth technical seminars and a plenary session given by senior members of Esri's Software Development team. Tech Talks will follow the seminars in the relaxed setting of the Community Center, where people can meet in small groups and share ideas with each other or ask questions of the Esri team.
ArcWatch recently caught up with Rob Elkins, a technical product manager at Esri who focuses on developer products and is a member of the summit planning team. In this question-and-answer session, Elkins talks about the goals of the summit and explains the benefits of attending.
ArcWatch: Who came up with the concept for the Developer Summit?
Rob Elkins: The idea came from feedback from developers who use Esri technology. The Esri International User Conference in San Diego is a very large event that draws all different types of users. Developers wanted a smaller, niche summit where they could have sessions that dive a little deeper into the architecture and into the individual ArcObjects components that make up ArcGIS. The summit provides them with the opportunity to concentrate solely on their type of work and lets them meet face to face with and learn directly from Esri staff. They can speak with someone who knows their language—the people who wrote the objects that they use to do their jobs. We like to describe it as a conference for developers, by developers.
ArcWatch: From all accounts, the first Developer Summit last year drew a large, enthusiastic group of developers. How many people attended, and why did you want to host a second conference?
Rob Elkins: Our first conference in 2006 was a big success in our eyes. About 700 people from North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Latin America joined Esri staff in Palm Springs. We received a lot of positive feedback. So we want to build on that and make the summit even better this year. It was interesting to meet with developers from many different backgrounds but who all had a common interest.
ArcWatch: It sounds, then, as if the conference is mainly devoted to dealing with the technical side of software development.
Rob Elkins: The Plenary Sessions will lay out the road map for developers, explaining the products available to them. But the bulk of the conference is the technical sessions. Last year, when sessions were going on, the hallways were empty. Everyone was in the rooms. The Developer Summit attracts a technical crowd that wants technical training.
 Esri staff will huddle in small groups with developers for informal yet enlightening "Tech Talks" at the Palm Springs Convention Center. |
ArcWatch: What types of developers of applications and services do you see at the summit?
Rob Elkins: They fall into two categories. About 60 to 70 percent of last year's attendees were programmers who work on in-house development projects to help their organizations be more efficient and effective or solve problems. The remaining 30 to 40 percent were developers who work for companies creating commercial solutions or offering consulting services for a product that provides a real-world solution.
ArcWatch: The Community Center was a popular gathering spot at last year's summit. Will it be back, and what role does it play?
Rob Elkins: The Community Center is like a little neighborhood—a big room with a lot of things going on. It's where you first check in at the summit and visit later to sit in a comfortable chair, use the free wireless to check your e-mail, or chat with other developers. Esri development teams will be on hand for consultations. If you want to meet with the Java Web development team members, they will be there. If you want to speak with someone from Esri who is a geodatabase expert, that's where you will find the person. There also will be Tech Talks.
ArcWatch: What is a Tech Talk?
Rob Elkins: Following a technical session, there are always questions that arise, but there often isn't time to have a detailed question-and-answer session in the presentation room. So, following each session, the presenter and Esri team will go to the Community Center and have a more informal technical talk with whoever wants to join them. For developers, it's a great place to talk to Esri staff or other developers about any project challenges or coding problems they are having. Often, attendees' questions are answered by other attendees.
ArcWatch: Who will Esri send to the Developer Summit to give the technical sessions and Tech Talks?
Rob Elkins: We are going to send as many people from the software development team as possible: the programmers who write the code, the architects and designers who help lay out the product vision, the product engineers who do a lot of the documentation and testing, and other technical staffers.
ArcWatch: What's the thrust of this year's technical sessions?
 Developers with questions or concerns can talk with Esri staffers one-on-one, too. |
Rob Elkins: The focus will be on the ArcGIS 9.2 release. We will have session tracks on ArcGIS Server 9.2 for Java or .NET developers. We also will have a series of presentations for developers building their own stand-alone applications using ArcGIS Engine either with .NET, C#, or Visual Basic.NET. We will have sessions on core GIS concepts: being able to work with a map—to programmatically display your data in a cartographically pleasing way and do advanced geoprocessing and analysis of your data. We will have sessions dealing with spatial reference systems and projections. There will be a series on raster and vector data management and how programmers need to deal with large amounts of spatial data.
ArcWatch: What will be the big buzz at the conference this year?
Rob Elkins: One of the major topics will be about building the next generation of Web mapping applications. The 9.2 release provides many opportunities to create fancy applications that are slick and easy for the developer to build advanced functionality. These applications are also great for the users of the Web sites because they get a better user experience.
ArcWatch: Developers who belong to the Esri Developer Network (EDN) received ArcGIS Server 9.2 for development and testing purposes as part of their subscription. Will there be a lot of emphasis on server technology for building these Web sites and services at the summit?
Rob Elkins: There will be many server sessions talking about this new developer architecture and tools for creating asynchronous Web sites and using the AJAX style programming of JavaScript to create this new Web experience.
ArcWatch: Do you have to be an Esri customer to attend the Developer Summit?
Rob Elkins: No. The Developer Summit is open to all software developers, whether they use Esri products or not. Many of the attendees belong to the EDN program.
ArcWatch: What are the benefits of belonging to EDN?
Rob Elkins: EDN is a 12-month subscription program that provides developers a copy of the EDN Software Library (including ArcGIS Engine Developer Kit; ArcGIS Server; and other software, data, and maps) for development and testing only. Subscribers also receive premium access to the latest developer resources on edn.esri.com and a discount for instructor-led training. Essentially, we give subscribers all our developer technology, and they can try out the best solution to solve the particular project they are working on. For one project, it might be ArcGIS Server with .NET. The next time, it might be a Java-based ArcGIS Engine solution. They've got all the toolkits there to create a wide range of solutions.
ArcWatch: What are some other sessions Esri has planned?
Rob Elkins: We will have a session about leveraging the different parts of the ArcGIS system and getting the most out of the different ArcGIS developer kits. We also will talk about creating custom Web applications using the Java Application Development Framework (ADF). There will be a few sessions devoted to ArcGIS Explorer, a new product from Esri, and how to create custom tasks using this product. We will also talk about 3D globe services. A series of sessions is planned on building mobile applications for devices in the field that connect back to ArcGIS Server. We will host a presentation on ArcWeb Services, which allows Web developers to embed GIS into an application.
ArcWatch: How can people register for the Esri Developer Summit?
Rob Elkins: Visit www.esri.com/devsummit to learn more and register. The schedule and descriptions of technical sessions will also be posted on the Web site.
