New Roles for Developers - Load Testing, Multi-Discipline Skills, & More

A new meetup! The world of application building and testing is changing at lightning speed, and this presents both new opportunities - and challenges - for developers. This meetup will examine the new role of the developers in both load testing, deployment, telemetry and even security. We're thrilled to have 2 expert presenters, and we invite you to join us in what will surely be a fascinating discussion. Here's what will be covered:

The world of load and performance testing is rapidly changing. Unlike the days of Waterfall, in which tests were run very late in the release cycle, teams - including developers - must now test every user story in every sprint. The adoption of DevOps methodologies, as well as Shifting Left (where tests are run more frequently and earlier in the development cycle) increases the need for developers to have the knowledge and tools needed to be able to run these tests. Yet this can be easier than you think.

Andrey Pokhilko - a renowned thought leader and innovator within the Apache JMeter™ performance testing community, founder of JMeter-Plugins.org, and creator and lead developer on the Taurus project (https://gettaurus.org/) - will present a 360° view of ensuring continuous quality of your application. Andrey will look at:

• How to not lose time by load testing unnecessary cases

• How to test efficiently, by focusing on practical outcomes

• Capacity measurement vs response time measurement

• The role of tools: load generating tools and reporting tools, of resource monitoring and APMs

• How to understand and analyze load test reports

The connection of load testing with functional testing and how to reuse test scripts

We will then hear from Chris Wysopal, CTO of Veracode, who will present on the transformation from the age monolithic application architectures to DevOps and microservices, and the opportunity that it presents to developers as lifelong learners as well as practical advice to get started.

Software development is changing and so are the roles that developers need to play. Over the last decade or so, companies have been trying to fill their ranks with what was called full-stack engineers. These developers were versed in software development from database to GUI and everything in between. This was necessary in the age of monolithic application architectures.

The move to DevOps and microservices demands new skills. Now a developer must become fluent in software testing, deployment, telemetry and even security. It is less about multi-layer and more about multi-discipline.

Chris will examine:

• How software development leaders used to think about the developers they hire

• How that is being transformed into a new breed of developer called the Full Spectrum Developer

• How you can get their ahead of demand and be more valuable to both your current and future employers

AGENDA (subject to change)

6:00 - Come, have a beer, something to eat and chat with us
6:30 - Crash Course in Practical Load Testing - For Developers - Andrey Pokhilko
7:30 - Short Break
7:45 - How the Shift to DevOps and Microservices Brings a Changing Role to Developers - Chris Wysopal, CTO of Veracode
8:15 - Networking, Giveaways and End