[NTLUG:Announce] Programming Practitioners: first meeting tonight.

[announce-admin@ntlug.org]

Just a reminder that tonight will be the first meeting of the Dallas 
Programming Practitioners.  I've included below the announcement that I 
gave last Wednesday night at Eric Raymond's talk.

Although this group is an outgrowth of the Extreme Programming lunches 
that some of us have been having for a while, it is a new group with a 
larger focus.  There are many things not yet set in stone (including the 
name of the group) so come to the first meeting and put in your two 
cents.

Mailing list signup:  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ntxp/
Web page:  http://www.pragmaticprogrammer.com/cgi-
local/pragprog?DallasPractitioners

Here's the announcement from Wednesday night:

     I'm here to announce the inaugural meeting of a new developer's
     group: the Dallas Programming Practitioners.  It's not a user's
     group per se; rather, it's a group for programmers who want to
     become better programmers and all-around software developers,
     irrespective of platform, language, or paradigm.

     The group is an outgrowth of the "Extreme Programming lunches"
     that have been going on informally for about two years.  Although
     it was called the XP lunch, discussion frequently ranged very
     widely, and in reality it was just an excuse to gather and talk
     about software development.  We've recently realized that the area
     needs a forum that achnowledges that it's more important simply to
     be a good programmer than to be a good Java or C or Unix or
     Windows or Perl programmer.

     You can think of the group as a users group for the book "The
     Pragmatic Programmer."  It is one of a very small set of books that
     focus on fundamental programming and software development
     skills; it tries to teach how to be a better programmer.  Several
     cities now have organized groups of developers who are interested
     in working together toward that same goal.  Dave Thomas, one of
     the authors of the book, will contribute his resources to the group 
to
     help make it a success.

     Meeting structure will vary: we'll have speakers, but also open
     discussions and debates.  We'll have practitioner reports, tool
     reviews, literature reviews (where participants report on
     interesting things that have appeared in recent trade magazines or
     journals), overhyped technology reality checks, and more.  Valid
     topics cover the whole gamut of software development: languages,
     tools, platforms, techniques, paradigms, and processes.

     The Dallas Programming Practitioners will have our first meeting
     Tuesday, July 16th, at 7:00 p.m.  We will meet at the Spring Creek
     BBQ in Addison, on Midway road just south of Belt Line.  There's a
     private room off to the left side as you enter.  Show up a little
     early to go through the line and get some food, and then come on
     into the meeting.

     Please attend if you have input as to a better venue, and
     especially if you can provide access to one!

--
Glenn Vanderburg
Delphi Consultants, LLC
glv at delphis.com