Finishing up OOPSLA

OOPSLA '03 was concluded for my part today with a panel discussion on "Application Servers - One size fits all...or not". Microsoft, Oracle, Sun and IBM was represented, but the questions did not lead to any real substance. Microsofts Technical Evangelist on the scene was as usual excellent and way more drilled than the other participants.

On tuesday I caught the norwegian consultants from BEKK present their solution for the norwegian educational department, and attended a tutorial on UML 2.0. The additions and alterations to the UML standard are made to facilitate MDD (Model Driven Development). This seems to have been the hot potato on this years OOPSLA. MDD and MDA (Model Driven architecture) has caused the fiercest fight (sadly I missed that panel).

Finally a panel on XP and Agile coaching gave me a better overview of coaching without breaking any new ground -> too much consensus.

Yesterday was dedicated to a panel on Test Driven Development and concluded with a session on the status of XML (and related technologies) by Don Box and a team coming down from the PDC. It was my first Don Box pres. and I have to say I liked his style, although not all participants agreed. Some found it unstructured and hard to follow. Too bad he didn't sum up any Indigo stuff, or had time to stay 30 seconds after the talk.

My voyage continues through the scorched countryside with San Fransisco as the next big stop.