My Experience at Porto Tech Hub 2023#
I had the opportunity to attend Porto Tech Hub 2023, and it provided new and interesting avenues on software making. The event was filled with insightful talks, innovative ideas, and, most importantly, the chance to connect with amazing people from the tech community. Here are some of my key takeaways from the event.
Great Talks That Left a Mark#
The conference featured a lineup of interesting speakers who shared their expertise and experiences. Two talks, in particular, stood out for me:
Chopping the Monolith – Nicolas Frankel#
One of the most thought-provoking presentations was “Chopping the Monolith” by Nicolas Frankel. You can check out his work on GitHub or his Blog.
Nicolas challenged the conventional wisdom around breaking down monolithic applications. He posed a question that resonated deeply:
“Do we really need to defeat the monster to get the princess?”
His perspective was refreshing — maybe we don’t need to completely dismantle the monolith. Instead, we can let the “dragon” sleep and focus on implementing the fast-moving, constantly changing parts of the application as microservices. This approach allows for agility and scalability without the daunting task of a full-scale migration.
This presentation not only provided practical strategies for chopping the monolith but also encouraged a more nuanced approach to architectural decisions. It was a great reminder that in tech, there’s rarely a one-size-fits-all solution.
Personally, I have mixed feelings. It feels a bit he is saying that parts of the application that have less innovated should be naturally preserved in some kind of formol. Which sounds nice, but about in 1 year time when there’s a bug and you’ve lost everyone that has know-how on that part of the application. Isn’t this how COBOL gets made???
NestJS Microservices – How to Build a Project – Aleksandar Gavazov#
Another standout session was by Aleksandar Gavazov. You can explore his projects on GitHub. His talk, “NestJS Microservices – How to Build a Project,” was a fantastic back-to-basics session on Event-Driven Development (EDD) and how to scale applications with microservices.
Aleksandar walked through the core concepts of EDD and demonstrated how NestJS can be leveraged for building scalable, maintainable microservices architectures. It was an excellent opportunity to revisit the fundamentals while also gaining insights into practical implementation strategies.
This talk not only deepened my understanding of NestJS and microservices architecture but also inspired me to explore new ways to design scalable systems.
The use of nodejs workers is very interesting. I am still not 100% convinced as I feel the hardware requirements are still to large for using workers as kind of pseudo threads, but no doubt an interesting concept.
Networking and New Ideas#
Beyond the talks, Porto Tech Hub 2023 was a vibrant hub of networking and idea exchange. It was amazing to meet like-minded professionals, share experiences, and discuss emerging trends in technology. I left the event feeling energized and full of new ideas to explore.
Final Thoughts#
Attending Porto Tech Hub 2023 was an incredible experience. The talks were enlightening, the people were inspiring, and the atmosphere was electric with innovation. I’m grateful for the opportunity and am already looking forward to next year’s event!
If you’re in tech and have the chance to attend, I highly recommend it. This conference is truly a platform for growth, learning, and connection.
Until next time, keep coding and keep innovating!