HolyJS 2019 Moscow recently passed. This is the second time at this conference.
Last year, I managed to write a small article by a beginner , and a year later I wanted to repeat my experiment and write a short review of the conference and reports.
The article will be interesting for both experienced conference participants and beginners, because this year there are a lot of innovations.
Review of the conference. Innovations
This time there was a lot of entertainment: a large number of stands, various quests and quizes, code problems on them. At first, people did not know what to do :-) It seems like I want to go to the report and solve the problems.
Badge stickers
I met a strange innovation that reminded me of Morpheus with a choice of pills from the movie "The Matrix". When registering, each participant could take one of two stickers: green or red. By sticking them on a badge, you make it clear whether you want to communicate with other participants or not. Having discussed this topic with other participants, it turned out that everyone is ambiguous about this. For two days of the conference, none of my friends ever saw people with red stickers.
It always seemed to me that the conference was about reports and communication. After all, if only reports, then you can safely watch the broadcast at home. And since red badges appeared, maybe not everything is so smooth with communication? Or are the stereotypes about developers pushing the organizers?
Perhaps this topic will grow into a report on soft skills for next year. This season they are more popular than ever.
Workshops
Workshops have become another innovation.
Workshops are practical exercises where you can solve your applied problems. Usually lasts several hours.
Their participants said that the workshops seemed damp to them. But, it seems to me, workshops are quite difficult to conduct ... And this is only the beginning, the first practice.
Game at one of the conference stands
Lightning talks
My discovery was Lightning talks - mini-reports for 5-10 minutes, which took place in the middle of the party. During the first day, anyone could try himself as a speaker.
The topics were interesting, quick thoughts and most importantly - there was something to discuss throughout the evening.
Reports Overview
HolyJS may well be considered an international conference, as there are reports in English. This year there were about twice as many as Russians. Sometimes it caused discomfort for people who do not speak the language well. There are reports where the speaker speaks very quickly or with an accent, and sometimes all together. Keep this in mind if you choose a report in English.
Of the famous speakers was the TC39 team. This is a committee that develops JavaScript. There was a report-interview with them and solo performances.
I will highlight several interesting and extraordinary reports.
Report by Michael Saboff
Michael Saboff - “JavaScript Core, many compilers make this engine perform”
Michael gave an overview of the open source JavaScriptCore virtual machine for WebKit. He told what levels JavaScriptCore consists of and what it uses for optimization. The speaker is on the committee of TC39.
Ivan Popelyshev - “How do we pay for the transition from <div /> to WebGL and what do we get (profit!), Using PixiJS as examples”
Ivan showed the pros and cons of switching the application to WebGL. He cited comparative examples of DOM / CSS / SVG, Canvas 2d and WebGL. Spoiler! You just don’t go to WebGL, you need to know a lot of things. I advise this report, the speaker explains divinely.
Dmitry Patsura - “Development of a compiler for TypeScript on TypeScript based on LLVM”
Pretty hardcore report about compilers, interpreters, various engines, virtual machines, a bit of assembler, examples of writing your own compiler ... from which the brain explodes a bit at the end.
Prashant Palikhe - “From code to pixels in a Blink”
Pranshant talked about browser processes that occur when a URL is entered into the address bar. I examined the internal components of the rendering engine Blink from Google.
Nicolò Ribaudo - "@ babel / how-to"
Nicolò explained what babel is made of, how it works from the inside, how JavaScript is compiled, and support for the new ECMAScript. And also at the end of the report he wrote a plugin in real time. Listening was a pleasure, and most importantly - every word is clear.
Denis Radin - “Can a computer pray for the benefit of all living beings? Prayer for JavaScript and WebGL. "
Very strange and at the same time light report. And as it turned out, the most expensive, because the speaker traveled to Nepal. The whole report was filled with questions: “Why is this all? How did you come to this? ” Denis keeps the intrigue and explains it only at the very, very end. If you like strange reports, then this one is for you.
Nicolò Ribaudo Report
I will highlight the report of TC39 Panel separately , because for me it was the biggest disappointment of this conference. It was announced as a chance to ask the TC39 committee about the past, present and future of JavaScript. Perhaps none of the participants in the conference fully understood that the report would be based only on their questions - online interviews, and they asked the first thing that came to their mind, so the report turned out to be more general administrative (in the format: "How are you?" , “How does the committee work?”) Than the technical one.
Total
There were a lot of people at the conference this year, but everyone was quite comfortable. In general, I liked the conference much more than last year. Perhaps it was possible to completely merge into the atmosphere of the conf. And where without the traditional gift duckling.
I hope the review was useful to you and you can learn something new in the reports.
Go to the conference, that's cool!
PS My review was sincere and, hopefully, unbiased. Forgive the organizers :-)
PPS As soon as the video reports are posted, I will attach them to the article.