Last weekend was the first CMAP Code Camp, and it certainly seems to have been a success. For those who are not within the inner circle of programming, CMAP is a local group of developers who get together to share their experiences and learn new techniques from one another. And a "Code Camp" is a free, full day of lectures focused on code tips & techniques. It truly is a great testimony to people in the profession that there are folks willing to volunteer their time and talent to help put on such an event (special kudos to Christopher Steen). One of the most striking similarities between dentistry and programming is the tendency for people to "specialize" in certain areas of the discipline, and a chronic desire to learn more skills. Like our code camp, we had "study clubs" where we took turns presenting a topic to our peers.
For my part I ended up providing a talk on using the ReportViewer control in local mode. Reporting is becoming increasingly important to business - from documenting compliance to presenting management with timely information. While Microsoft has an excellent solution for facilitating reports with SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services, many places are not yet at that release. But using the control in local mode where you are responsible for providing the data for the code programmatically is a good solution that should not be overlooked (and most reports developed for local use can be readily ported to server mode if SSRS becomes available).
There's talk of another Code Camp in the fall, which may be a little ambitious but certainly a welcome indicator of how well this one went. Hopefully CMAP will continue to be able to use facilities at UMBC even though we do not have an official sponsor. You'd certainly think that the university would welcome an affiliation with a group that promotes continuing education in technology.
