It is often said that to be good at something, you need to constantly develop. Even a Senior Developer, with many years of experience, should take a moment from time to time to expand their knowledge. Frontend technologies, including Angular, are evolving very dynamically, and entering the IT industry is becoming more attractive and relatively easier. That is why, even if you are a Senior or a Team Leader, you should also consider investing in your development.
Due to the very large number of training sessions that are currently available, choosing the right one can be a real challenge. Some time ago, 3 developers from House of Angular took part in workshops organized by NG Poland. They were led by Michael Hladki, who holds the Google Developer Expert (GDE) title. The high level presented by the RxJS library contributor exceeded our expectations. We left the meeting with a broader knowledge and some practical skills. You can find our feedback below.
Workshops
We participated in a four-day workshop conducted by Micheal Hladki – a Google Developer Expert (GDE). There was a possibility to sign up for all four days or just one chosen day. The topics discussed during the whole cycle were as follows:
Day 1: RxJS Expert Skills
Day 2: Advanced Reactive UI Patterns
Day 3 and 4: Performance at scale
More information about the individual workshops can be found here: https://workshopfest.dev/
The workshops were mainly dedicated to people who already had experience with Angular and RxJS. Michael showed advanced functions related to the library itself and its architecture.
“The subject matter of the workshop in terms of advancement went beyond any popular issues that we may come across when looking for advice on the performance of our angular applications (for example, we think of using “trackBy” or “ChangeDetectionStrategy.OnPush” as something easy and focus on a deeper analysis of the problem).
In a sense, it was a compilation of all the speeches at conferences/podcasts in which Michael participated, articles and presentations which he created, or open-source solutions that he worked on (regarding this topic we should mention @rx-angular). The benefit of these workshops is that the knowledge is presented in the form of well-prepared and easily digestible lectures, given by Michael himself. Another additional and precious benefit was the possibility of interacting with him at any time.”
Mateusz, Developer from House of Angular
Organization
Organizational issues related to conducting workshops during the ongoing pandemic are a real challenge. Dariusz Kalbarczyk (organizer) decided that the event will take place in a hybrid form, i.e. both stationary and online.
The atmosphere at this type of event is definitely unique. In addition, a big plus was the opportunity to meet other participants interested in the same topic. That is why the developers from House of Angular decided to participate in a stationary form.
“Michael Hladky is a guy with an incredible knowledge of application architecture and performance. You can see that he spends a lot of time analyzing and understanding how things work “below the surface” and then transforms his conclusions both into workshop and training material, as well as the development of libraries and tools to facilitate the development of applications.”
Mateusz, Developer from House of Angular
All necessary organizational information was provided in advance. Participants also received additional materials and an invitation to a Q&A session held a few weeks after the training.
The organizer of the event (Dariusz) was present throughout the day and solved all minor problems and coordinated organizational matters. Every workshop was recorded and all the participants received access to it after the training.
“In terms of organization, the workshops were great. They took place in the center of Warsaw, in a modern office building. The size of the training room was just right, with convenient access to electricity and wifi. We had regular breaks, drinks, snacks, and a joint lunch trip (all included in the ticket price).”
Mateusz, Developer from House of Angular
Is it worth it or not?
Depending on the level of knowledge, the opinion about the training could vary. For example, for Juniors, lectures might seem too complex and difficult, so some could be scared away. On the other hand, it cannot be said that this training is suitable for every Senior because it also depends on the level of knowledge. Therefore, please take into account that this is our individual opinion and if you have any questions – feel free to write to us. ?
“As a participant of a single workshop (from a series of 3 workshops, held day after day), I felt a slight insufficiency resulting from the fact that the knowledge from all days combined complemented each other and only together made a consistent whole.
In my opinion, the training not only gave an injection of new knowledge but above all encouraged you to deepen the knowledge on your own and to understand how “below the surface” things work.”
Mateusz, Developer from House of Angular
Summary
In terms of organization and content, the workshops were organized at the highest level, with attention to detail. We received a large dose of new knowledge, as we were expecting. Of course, if you have such an opportunity – it is worth taking part in a stationary form, which gives you a chance to have a longer conversation with Michael and additionally to meet new people interested in the same subject.
Here is an opinion of one of the participants:
“Very interesting workshops with an incredibly energetic man. The information he provided penetrated very deeply into the source code of the RxJS library. For me, it was a great opportunity to get to know his opinions on the solutions he added to this library (as you can guess, not all of them were positive). In addition to the substantive advantages, it was simply fun to physically participate in the workshops despite the pandemic.”
Przemek, Developer from House of Angular
To sum it up – it was fun! ? Next ngWorkshops will be organized a few days before the NG Poland conference. It is worth getting to know Michael personally, because of his positive energy and the enormity of the knowledge he can pass on. Interested? More information can be found here: https://ng-poland.pl/ .
Leave a Reply