Some notes I took from the second, and last day of BarCamp KL 2009.

Asyraf Rahman: Introduction to Agile Development – Google Documents was given as an example of Agile development, the idea was to create something for documents collaboration, and in 2 weeks, a working product is there! Agile is not for everyone, it depends on your customers, bosses and colleagues – whether they can work with it, and the type of business you are running. For a startup, the market is usually the public, and we want to launch fast. Agile encourages individual interactions, working software over comprehensive documentations, customer collaborations over written contracts, responding to change over following a plan. Basic software development process: business case -> basic requirements -> develop -> support. Agile development process: high level requirements -> ( ( develop -> release N ) * N ) -> support. Level of proficiency in a language does not really affect pair programming, in fact it helps the beginners by having an expert look after them.

Gen Kanai: Mozilla in Malaysia – Talked about the new features in Firefox 3.5, and a discussion on whether there is a need for Malay Firefox. There are 60+ language packs, non for Bahasa Malaysia yet. Mozilla is an architecture, a platform, many apps based on Mozilla (ie. Boxee, Miro, etc). Firefox 3.5 will be called “Shiretoko”. Shiretoko is a national park in Japan. Firefox releases are code-named based on national parks in the world. New in Firefox 3.5: faster JavaScript (Tracemonkey JIT), private browsing, native JSON parsing, to name a few. Awesome for web developers! It was said that in the past 6 months, Firefox usage in Malaysia has grown 34%. Bahasa Malaysia translation started in 2001. Majority of audience don’t see the need for a Bahasa Malaysia Firefox.

Kengyew: The Stingy Web Startup – Identify one core value proposition and do well. Example: Facebook’s focus was to let users find out who are in the same class as them in college. Google’s focus was search. Why focus? Because we don’t have the resources to do everything. Build product people want: talk to customer, identify problem, find solution. Rapid iteration, agile. Magic recipe: product -> ??? -> money (ref: DHH, Startup School). That ??? is price, put a price to your product (eg: Basecamp, Mailchimp). Ads as a business model? Takes time to establish because we need a big user base for it to work. Getting VCs is harder than charging for your product. From an audience: potential angel investors are people who can benefit from your product.

Khalid Hilaby: From Geek to Chique, How to Enhance Your Social Life and Look Good While You At It – Change! Be social, networking, talk English not geek. How to look good: get a girl’s (who has a fashion sense) advice, invest in good shirts, invest in yourself, get a great haircut! Goal is to surprise people when you tell them you are an IT person. How to get chicks: approach them, SMS (the statement, call to action), be you, its a numbers game, be an asshole but be nice after you get her, don’t let it inside your head (you are still a geek!). There was some awesome interactions here, between the speaker and the crowd.

To sum it up, it was quite an exciting experience for me, to meet new people, learn new things not specifically in technology, and get freebies! Kudos to the organizers, great work done! Thank you.

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