Vancouver Bootcamp Feedback

Comments in no particular order

More clearly indicate things that things to put in the Eclipse build path

Code was too small on the projector/hard to read

More an explanation of which technology is doing what - still a little abstract

For Beginners

• Pace was a bit too fast

• compounded by network problems

• perhaps a separate track for true beginners

Other venues to use

• Access Grid - video conferencing

  • Break the content into smaller segments

• Web conferencing

Comprehensive Reviews

@Former user (Deleted)

The Simplest Possible Tool - Mike Osterman
Comment - too fast!

I was not able to follow during session as it was going too fast for me, so started reading online info and doing it myself. Got to a point in the instructions where there was code to copy, but no explanation of what I was to do. Got help from Bill Crosbie at that point and was able to finish.

Suggestions: The documentation is great... at first. Please continue updating with step-by-step instructions for us newbies, especially at the later stages as the required steps/tasks are not readily apparent (at least, until they're ingrained.) Include instructions/screen shots for Windows and command line as there are too many assumptions that your audience knows this stuff already.

Putting The Framework to Work - Zack Thomas
Comment - too complicated and too much typing!

The concept of creating files and walking the user through was great, BUT...

The project was still too big if the intent is to type everything - too many classes & components to keep up. If we're going to download this later, why type in front of us? The few hints in troubleshooting were good, but too far in - I had already lost track of what was going on.

Suggestions: There was no conceptual design behind this, i.e., tool design sprung out of your brain wholly intact! Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way for me. What are we doing and why?!
More comment during constructor creation about deciding what functions are needed and maybe what happens when you go back and add things in you forgot in the first iteration.

Finally, there are no step-by-step instructions online for this stage, so I'm lost at this point with no hope of doing this by myself.

Using Java Server Faces - Thomas Amsler
Comment - good job!

This section was better organised and the pace was better too. Speaking voice has improved - not quite so monotone until towards the end. The steps were easier to follow and well documented.

Unfortunately, my build has not recovered from session 2, so I wasn't able to deploy maven successfully. I'm going to have to try this out on my own.
Solid work, good checking with the audience.

Persistence in Sakai - Aaron Zeckoski
Comment - even better!

Clear, concise. Good voice, well-documented online content. Again, since I'm behind, I couldn't try anything during class, but I was able to follow along. Aaron seems comfortable with speaking and his presentation was well organised.

Why are We Here - Bill Crosbie
Good identification of a burnt-out audience. Too bad we didn't get to testing, but I doubt I could have followed anything by this point. Hope to see documentaion on testing though.

OVERALL COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS
The biggest stumbling blocks for me were using Subversion and deployment failures in maven. I still don't know how to update files via svn and stopping to troubleshoot means I missed parts of the presentation.

It would be great if the online site were reviewed for consistency. It's tough with various participants to get a common style and some parts are difficult to understand.

Overall - I would give this cafe a thumbs up. As a continuing support process for the community, great strides were made in the right direction. This was a solid attempt. I hope the online material is updated as I plan to run through this again, and I'm sure the community who could not attend will find this resource valuable.

Please comment early and often!