React Finland

It’s React Finland time again. The goal of React Finland 2019 is to continue where we left off the first time and go further. The format will be close to the same as the first time with several improvements:

• The conference will be held 24–26.04.2019. We considered doing two workshop days but for this event, we’ll keep the same format (1+2) for now.
• We’ll use Paasitorni, the venue familiar from GraphQL Finland
• There will be a workshop day (24.04) with seven full-day workshops
• There will be two conference days (25–26.04) split into smaller themed sections like in GraphQL Finland
• There will be more speakers than before.
• The talks will be split into themed sessions with multiple speakers each. This means you’ll get different views on the same topic on subsequent talks.
• There will be professional MCs, one for each conference day.
• We can accommodate up to ~400 React enthusiasts from around the world. Although we could handle more, I believe it’s a good idea to manage the scope of the conference to keep it cozy.
• There will be combo tickets. Get both a workshop and a conference ticket for one fair price.

Tickets are available now!

Paasitorni — The Venue#

Paasitorni worked well for us in GraphQL Finland, and I believe we can do even better this time around. Although it’s not as centrally located than the previous venue, Valkoinen sali, it provides more space and thus is better suited for the higher capacity we have in mind. Paasitorni includes restaurant facilities which are a big bonus for a conference as you don’t have to eat standing (unless you insist).

24.04 — Workshop Day#

Based on our experience with conferences so far, we believe everyone gets the most value from full-day workshops. In addition to providing ample time for interaction, it allows the day to be more relaxed. Our workshops include lunch and two coffee breaks in the price.

This year, we’ll have six workshops on varying topics:

Design Systems for React Developers — Andrey Okonetchnikov and Artem Sapegin#

One of the critical issues in developing software products in scale is the communication between designers and developers. As an organization grows, how do you avoid duplicating effort and overall keeping it all together?

Design systems provide one solution by providing a language that allows the developers and the designers of the organization to interact fluently.

In this workshop, you will learn the basic ideas behind design systems while applying them in practice using React and Styleguidist.

Andrey Okonetchikov is an experienced practitioner while Artem Sapegin wrote the tool used in the workshop. I believe you’ll be in good hands if you choose to pick this workshop.

Reactive State Machines and Statecharts — David Khourshid#

David Khourshid will repeat his state machine workshop from the last year with updated content. He is one of the leading figures in the React community when it comes to using state machines and statecharts in practice.

Although these techniques require upfront design, they can enable higher productivity by reducing the amount of complexity. Rather than maintaining different states in flags, the approach allows you to encode this information in a structure. As a side effect, you’ll gain a better understanding of what you are doing while being able to visualize, implement, and test it more comprehensively.

React and GraphQL — From zero to production — Glenn Reyes#

One of the things we missed during the first edition of React Finland was a workshop aimed for beginners. In this workshop by Glenn Reyes, an experienced React and GraphQL practitioner, you will get started with GraphQL using React.

You should know the basic ideas behind React before tackling this one. Expect to be able to implement a GraphQL server of your own after this workshop.

Advanced React — Suspense, Time Slicing, Hooks and more … — Nik Graf#

There is a special treat for experienced React developers. Nik Graf will have an advanced workshop about React’s new features. You will learn how to apply new techniques such as suspense, time slicing, hooks, and whatever might exist by the conference.

If you sign up, you’ll develop an application with Nik while learning all the new buzzwords so you can impress your friends at the conference.

Get in the Fast Lane: Measuring React Performance — Sia Karamalegos#

Perhaps the easiest way to improve the revenue of your web business is to improve the performance of your site. In this web performance oriented workshop by Sia Karamalegos, you’ll learn how to do exactly that with React.

I know this first-hand given I had to do a lot of React performance related work this year. It isn’t easy, but once you understand the fundamentals, it gets easier. The basic problem is that it requires awareness before you even know where to look.

The workshop should help you to get started with React performance efforts and you should know React well before attending so you will gain most out of the material.

25.04–26.04 — Conference Days#

Although the exact schedule of the conference days will be finalized close to the conference, we have the majority of our speakers confirmed already. You’ll see some familiar faces from the last year while plenty of newer ones while including local color and different kinds of diversity.

The challenge is always how to keep it fresh while providing value for different kinds of attendees. For this reason, we’ll do themed sessions with a few talks in a row so it’s fresh in your memory and you get multiple perspectives on a topic.

Conclusion#

Expect us to blog more about the conference. There are still surprises in store and it would be unfair to spoil it all in one post.

Tickets are available now!