LDNUG April 2025 with Erin Hamalainen and Mo Pazooki

This April we're back at Zühlke's offices near Old Street, with two awesome talks about code reviews and authentication, plus the usual drinks, snacks, and plenty of time to chat. Doors 18:30, the first talk starts at 19:00 and we'll be done and heading to the pub at 21:00 to continue the conversation.

Mo Pazooki: JWT Authentication & Authorization in ASP.NET Core

Authentication and authorization are fundamental to securing modern web applications, and JSON Web Tokens (JWT) provide a scalable, stateless approach to managing user identity. In this discussion, I will explore how JWTs work, their structure, and their role in securing API requests. I will break down the authentication process, where a client login and receives a JWT, which is then included in each request's header for validation. I’ll also cover authorization, ensuring that users have the correct permissions before accessing resources. By the end, you’ll have a clear understanding of how to integrate JWT authentication effectively, ensuring security and scalability in your ASP.NET Core applications.

Mo Pazooki is a seasoned software engineer with extensive experience across the entire Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). Passionate about writing high-quality, maintainable code. Beyond coding, Mo creates educational content on .NET and modern software architecture, sharing insights through a YouTube channel and personal blog.

Continuously expanding technical expertise through reading and hands-on projects, Mo is committed to helping developers build scalable, well-structured applications while fostering best practices in software engineering.

Erin Hamalainen: Code Review: The Missing Manual

Code review is one of the most critical parts of software development—and yet, no one teaches us how to actually do it. No books, no courses, no best practices, no structured approach. Most of us just figure it out on our own, behind the scenes, without ever knowing how others do it.
In this talk, I’ll share my personal 4-step systematic approach to code review—a structured, repeatable process designed to catch more issues before production, save time, and make reviews actually useful. We’ll cover:

• The right way to approach a pull request before even looking at the code
• How to spot gaps that could cause future headaches (like missing tickets, vague PR descriptions, or lack of testing)
• Why a step-by-step approach makes your reviews faster, more effective, and less exhausting
• How to measure whether your review process is actually working

If you’ve ever wondered Am I doing this right?—or Is there a better way?—this talk is for you. Walk away with a concrete process you can start using immediately to level up your code reviews.

Erin Hamalainen graduated with a mathematics degree and no clear career direction—except knowing that she loved programming, thanks to an Intro to C++ course. Without a CS degree, she wasn’t sure software development was an option, so she spent a year and a half waiting tables while figuring out her next steps. Then, a chance conversation with a customer changed everything. He ran a small app development company and encouraged her to apply, offering her the opportunity to learn on the job. She traded in her apron for a laptop and never looked back! Now, years later, Erin is an experienced software developer with a deep enthusiasm for coding—and an even deeper passion for code review. She believes we're leaving a lot of value on the table when it comes to how we approach code review, and she's excited to share her insights in this talk. Outside of work, Erin is an avid reader, knitter, sewing enthusiast, and powerlifter. Originally from the U.S., she’s been happily settled in London for the past eight years, where she lives with her beloved 5-year-old Yorkshire Terrier, Fiddle. Though a natural introvert, she’s mastered the art of faking extroversion. This year’s personal mission? Conquering the intricacies of her two inherited domestic knitting machines.