When we were thinking about the next Frontend Masters event, we knew that we wanted to offer something different to the audience. In the past, we were the only ones who organized this type of event in Košice. At that time, online materials were scarce and the IT community welcomed every opportunity to learn something new from experts. Since then, however, the desire to educate Košice developers has grown, and now developers can visit a lecture from the programming field practically every week. What attracted participants to ours? A new format where we gave people something they couldn’t get anywhere else – our own experiences.
The main theme of the FM22 was the query language GraphQL, namely its use in our latest project – a web application for car rental. Initially, two programmers were to stand in front of the projector in Technicom, Ady for the front-end solution and Mišo for the back-end. Together, they prepared a lecture about 10 moments during development with GraphQL that made them go “WOW”! But Ady got sick and we had to improvise. Mišo took over the entire technological part and Marek provided his unique business perspective on cooperation with Moris Slovakia.
To show you what it was like, we decided to choose the 3 most interesting ideas (for us) that our colleagues presented at the event.
Rules of cooperation must be agreed in advance
In his part, Marek mentioned several times that the basis of a functioning relationship with the client is the correct setting of the way and rules of cooperation. Only then can both sides know what to expect. He also described that at the beginning of communication with the client, we only had a basic specification of the project, from which it was difficult to define the exact price and date of completion of the works. Therefore, only an open budget was established. However, the client fully trusted us, accepted the continuous development at 2-week intervals and was pleasantly surprised at each demo by the functionality of the portal we were able to deliver.
In addition, Marek also explained the invoicing method or calculating the price of work, which is information that programmers wouldn’t have been able to obtain in other circumstances. At the same time, the participants could learn when we consider a project to be completed.
Preparation of schemes makes up 80% of the work
The most important part of the development was undoubtedly the analysis and design of the functioning of the application, on which our developers spent 3 months. GraphQL requires thorough preparation in order to work as optimally as possible. Although Mišo greatly simplified the whole process. He proposed a solution in schemes already during the analysis process and saved valuable developer time.
The Apollo server helped him with it, as it allows the design of schemes in a nice environment and also a clear definition of all parameters. Along with the analysis, we presented the client with a clickable graphic mockup of the site at the beginning, thanks to which they could imagine the result in advance.
Enthusiasm is contagious
We chose GraphQL technology for the project for Moris Slovakia for 2 reasons. First of all, Mišo wanted to try it, and secondly, as the analysis showed, it was perfect for the application. It was Mišo’s ardour and technological foresight that were the main drivers that successfully launched the project. In addition, Mišo is perfectly complemented by Adam, who as a student doesn’t yet have so much experience, but compensates for it with enthusiasm for work and desire to learn.
So we managed to create a great pair on the Moris project – an experienced programmer/analyst with an ambition to pass on their experience, and a beginner with a huge motivation to learn. We were able to pass on the enthusiasm for the project of these two developers to the client, who was subsequently motivated to cooperate even more actively and often collaborated with us even in the late evening.
What did the participants like the most about the event?
Frontend Masters began as an in-house learning activity. We’re pleased that this dimension hasn’t been lost and that we also found familiar faces of our colleagues in the audience during the 22nd continuation of this event. So we asked them for feedback. We knew it was going to be honest.
„I liked the contrast between Mišo’s technical part and Marek’s remarks about the project the most. In my opinion, this is the direction that events should take in the future.“
„What made me happy was that there were people who were really interested in the topic of the event. Old but also new faces, young but also more seasoned developers. For us, this is a sign that live events with a practical focus really make sense. I liked how Mišo approached his lecture and that he spoke authentically, from his own experience. On the other hand, Marek portrayed the project from a completely different point of view. I think a lot of people have been surprised by this unexpected turn of events.“
„What interested me the most during the event was the information that the customer allowed us to use a completely new technology on their project, which neither they nor we had much experience with. I think it was a very bold move on their part, it certainly took a lot of trust and it’s great how well that turned out. As for the event itself, I liked that it wasn’t just a lecture, but it also had interactive parts like a discussion or a quiz at the end. It’s a shame I finished second.“
