WWDC

I spent the past week at Apple's amazing WWDC conference. I was primarily attending to learn about iPhone and iPad development, but it was also an opportunity to meet with the core Apple WebKit team. It was great putting faces to the various IRC nicks and e-mail addresses that I've been interacting with over the past couple of years. I learned some important facts, such as that Darin Adler is renovating his house, that mitzpettel is a baked goods aficionado, and that bdash is a really nice guy in person (despite his gruff online persona). Only Maciej managed to elude my stalking skills.

The guys were very accommodating, humoring me by sitting politely through a demonstration of my incomplete application so I could show off its multiple web view. Unfortunately, some nuance of the WWDC network preventing me from accessing my company's VPN, so I couldn't retrieve the current beta build to show off the current artwork and CSS. When we get closer to release I hope to post some videos of it.

The only disappointment (for me) was having to miss the annual WebKit party, attending instead a mandatory Oakland A's game with my Father-in-law. From all reports, it was a great evening (the party, not the A's game). Oh well -- next year!

If you haven't been to WWDC, I highly recommend it. It's a great way to get excited by the possibilities provided by the various Apple platforms, as well as an opportunity to be inspired by the great work being done by others in the industry. Arguably, the most valuable aspect of the conference is getting direct one-on-one contact with the various engineering teams at Apple. You can literally drop in with you buggy program, sit down with your laptop and a few engineers, and walk out of there with a solution.