Simon de Haan

GitHub: smn

Accepted Talks:

Hack Where it Matters

The best of our brains are often spent on problems that mostly benefit a minority most when solved while there is a host of problems that are generally easy to get involved with that could benefit the majority.

This will be a talk where we highlight the benefits of Python in solving problems that benefit the majority world. The kinds of skill sets that would amplify ones impact when solving these problems.

Building our experience at the Praekelt Foundation I'll be discussing and showcasing some example initiatives that one could get involved in and what the long term benefits for a developer are once they do get involved.

Tutorial: Vumi and Mobile Messaging

Vumi is a super-scalable conversation engine for the delivery of SMS, Star Menu and chat messages to diverse audiences. Learn about mobile messaging and how to set up your up your own Vumi instance and write simple SMS, Star Menu or chat message applications.

Panel discussion: Effective Team Practices in Software Development

Software development is not just about writing code at your desk (or laptop or coffee shop). It's also about the other people in your team, about the people the software is for, about where the software is deployed. This is a panel discussion about what works when building software for others as a team -- and about what doesn't work. We'll be aiming to keep the discussion focussed on practical approaches to real-life issues rather than being side-tracked by ideologies or hypothetical problems.

The panelists

  • David Fraser is Managing Director of St James Software
  • Simon de Haan is Chief Engineer at Praekelt Foundation
  • Patrick Vine is a Developer at Alchemy Software
  • David Campey is the founder of Information Logistics

Topics

  • other team members and interpersonal skills
  • development team skill mixtures
  • supporting users, clients and other developers
  • delivering Python software on mixed platforms
  • coaching and mentoring developers
  • what to do after hiring someone who doesn't quite fit

If you'd like to add a topic or question for the panelists, email team@za.pycon.org or leave a comment below!




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