Book Now for NSConference (Europe) Here
Book Now for NSConference (USA) Here
Europe
Wokefield Park
Reading
Berkshire, UK

Sunday 31st Jan
Optional Workshops


Monday 1st to Tuesday 2nd Feb
Mac Conference


Wednesday 3rd Feb
iPhone Conference


Book Here
USA
Georgia Tech Research Institute
Atlanta
GA, USA

Sunday 21st Feb
iPhone Conference


Monday 22nd to Tuesday 23rd Feb
Mac Conference


Wednesday 24th Feb
Optional Workshops


Book Here
2 Day Mac Developer Conference
A two day (10 session) conference with presentations from some of the worlds top Mac developers aimed at intermediate to advanced Mac developers

The ethos of NSConference is intended to be community. As well as technical sessions we have a great conference dinner on the Monday evening

To ensure everyone gets a chance to meet everyone else we are intentionally keeping the conference small.

This year there will be a maximum of 200 spaces at each venue so make sure you book early to guarantee you get in.


NSConference 2010 (Europe) Mac Developer Conference
1st-2nd Feb 2010: £299+VAT (£199+VAT for Students)

Book Here

NSConference 2010 (USA) Mac Developer Conference
22nd-23rd Feb 2010: $499 ($329 for Students)

Book Here

Speakers, Sessions and Schedule

Day 1: 08:00
Registration Opens
Day 1: 09:00 to 09:30
So This Is NSConference!
Find out what's going on , when it's going on and how you get involved with it all

Scotty
Scotty is the founder of The Mac Developer Network, host of the MDN Show and co-organizer of NSConference.

Day 1: 09:30 to 10:30
Conference KeyNote: Engineering Life
What if you could program the universe the way you can program a computer? What awesome feats could you accomplish with the ability to debug reality itself? Would the weight of responsibility drive you to use your powers for the good of all mankind? Are software engineers just glorified programmers, or are they latent superheroes? These questions and more will be answered with mind-bending thought experiments, and reports from the field.

Mike Lee
Mike Lee, the World’s Toughest Programmer,is the founder and CEO of United Lemur, a philanthropic revolution disguised as a software company. Mike also cofounded Tapulous, whose titles include Tap Tap Revenge and Twinkle. Prior to iPhone, Mike cut his teeth and won an Apple Design Award at Seattle-based Delicious Monster Software. Mike is originally from Honolulu, is a popular blogger and occasional pundit, and has been seen on twitter as ©bmf.

Day 1: 10:30 to 11:00
Refreshment & Networking Break
We will provide the refreshments you do the networking

Day 1: 11:00 to 12:00
Spelunking OS X
Mac OS X isn't just a sealed bucket of bits you receive on shiny optical discs -- under the hood is software just like you and I write (just lots more of it). It's beholden to the same laws of software-physics as you and I must obey. Together we'll spelunk the moist caverns of Mac OS X using tools like otool, otx and class-dump to explore the mach-o file format. Then we'll cover current injection technologies like Input Managers (incompatible with 64-bit), AppleScript Additions, mach_inject DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES. Finally, we'll talk about extension technologies like mach_override and JRSwizzle.

Jonathan "Wolf" Rentzsch
Jonathan 'Wolf' Rentzsch is a long-time Mac software developer located in Chicagoland. For over ten years he's lead a local monthly Mac developer meet-up and also runs C4, an Apple-flavor indie developer conference.

Day 1: 12:00 to 12:30
Refreshment & Networking Break
We will provide the refreshments you do the networking

Day 1: 12:30 to 13:30
Clean Code
There's a myth that in order to ship, you've got to get the product out the door as quickly as possible at all costs, code quality be damned. It's my belief that writing clean, quality code is nearly as important as a working product. I'll go over both the long- and short-term benefits of clean code and offer some advice on how to write clean code.

Dave Dribin
Dave has been writing professional software for over thirteen years, and programming since the days of the Apple ][. After five years programming embedded C for GSM infrastructure at Motorola and a brief stint riding the Internet bubble, Dave decided to venture out on his own. Since 2001, Dave has been providing independent consulting services. In 2006, he incorporated Bit Maki to provide consulting service for his customers. In 2008, he founded Bit Maki Software with Jonathan "Wolf" Rentzsch to write their own apps.

Day 1: 13:30 to 15:00
Lunch
Lunch will be provided at the conference venue

Day 1: 15:00 to 16:00
Data Presentation in Mac Apps
It's hard to imagine an application that doesn't present any data to its user at all. In fact, designing a user interface is largely a question of establishing how best to expose the internal data representation of an application to the user. Data presentation can range from the very simple, such as a single text field, to more advanced but standard controls such as NSTableView and NSOutlineView, right up to completely custom visualizations and graphs. In this presentation, we'll take a look at the resources available to a Cocoa developer for the presentation of data, and the circumstances in which each one is suitable. The question of when to use standard controls and when to search for a custom solution will also be addressed.

Drew McCormack
Drew McCormack is a scientific programmer and researcher in the Theoretical Chemistry Department of the Free University in Amsterdam. He is a board member and regular contributor on the MacResearch.org web site, and develops the Cocoa flash card application 'Mental Case' in his spare time. Drew has written articles and tutorials on Cocoa development for the Apple Developer Connection (ADC), O'Reilly's Mac Dev Center, and MacResearch.org, and co-authored the book 'Beginning Mac OS X Programming' with Mike Trent.

Day 1: 16:00 to 16:30
Refreshment & Networking Break
We will provide the refreshments you do the networking

Day 1: 16:30 to 17:30
Core Animation
In this session, Marcus will be discussing Core Animation and how to develop complex models. Throughout the session Marcus will walk us through the more complex explicit animations as opposed to the more common implicit animations that are in wide use. The goal of this session is to get more comfortable with the more complex and interesting explicit animations and a better understanding of some of the things we can do with Core Animation.

Marcus Zarra
Marcus S. Zarra is the owner of Zarra Studios LLC and the creator of seSales and iWeb Buddy as well as being a co-author of "Cocoa Is My Girlfriend", a wildly popular blog covering all aspects of Cocoa development. Marcus has been developing software since the mid-1980s and has written software in all of the major technological fields. Marcus has been using Core Data since its original release in OS X 10.4 Tiger and has released numerous applications and papers covering all of the topics of Core Data.

Day 1: 19:00 to Late
Conference Party
The arrangments for the conference party will be slighly different depending on location. Each will however involve food, drink and spending time being as geeky as you like.
Day 2: 09:00 to 10:00
Making Mistakes Impossible
Software usability isn't just about making your app intuitive and discoverable and guessable, it's also about what you do when the user makes a mistake. Users make mistakes all the time, and it's almost always because the app allows them to. There are certain attitudes and conventions in software GUI and functionality design which inevitably lead to user errors - and they can be avoided. in this session, we'll discuss why users make mistakes, and how you can design your app to make many mistakes impossible.

Matt Legend Gemmell
Matt Legend Gemmell is a freelance Mac OS X and iPhone developer based in Edinburgh in the UK. Matt has been developing for Mac OS X since 10.0 Developer Preview 4 in late 2000. Matt is a prolific contributor to the Cocoa open source community and focuses primarily on intuitive interaction and interface design. Matt has source code in use in more than 60 third-party applications (that he knows of; likely many, many more). Matt host the incredibly popular "World According To Gemmell" segment if The MDN Show

Day 2: 10:00 to 10:30
Refreshment & Networking Break
We will provide the refreshments you do the networking

Day 2: 10:30 to 11:30
Cocoa Design Patterns that Leverage the Objective-C Runtime
It's no surprise that Objective-C is a dynamic language, and that dynamic nature allows many design patterns that would be utterly painful in less dynamic languages with a more constrained object model. In addition to providing great flexibility, the Objective-C Runtime can be leveraged to maximize code reusability. By creating abstract superclasses that leverage the runtime to detect the properties created by their subclasses, methods can be written that do not need to be subclassed. Additional "free" functionality can be provided to subclasses using the runtime's ability to dynamically create and dispatch messages. In this session, you'll see how to leverage the inner workings of the Objective-C Runtime to reduce code clutter in your projects and create extremely reusable code that can be used in multiple Mac and iPhone applications without modification.

Jeff LaMarche
Jeff LaMarche is the co-author of the award winning book Beginning iPhone 3 Development, one of the best selling books on software development of recent years. He is also co-author of the upcoming More iPhone 3 Development and maintains, is a contributor to the upcoming book Learn Cocoa, and was the technical reviewer for the book Learn Objective-C. Jeff also maintains a fairly widely-read blog about iPhone software development and has written for both MacTech magazine and for Apple's Developer Technical Services' website.

Day 2: 11:30 to 12:00
Refreshment & Networking Break
We will provide the refreshments you do the networking

Day 2: 12:00 to 13:00
Brushing Up On Core Image
Learn how to create your own digital watercolor brush in this session. Topics to be discussed include: using OpenCL to model the physics of how the watercolor pigments move around and are absorbed into the paper, and using Core Image to model the optics of compositing two watercolor glazes.

Andy Finnell
When not living in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and two cats, Andy Finnell is often thought to be out of state, or even -- in extreme circumstances -- out of country. Andy is currently a partner at Order N Development, LLC, a software contracting company specializing in developing Mac and iPhone software and awkward company names. His interests include Core Image, his wife, and oxygen. Tutorials and other articles can be found at his blog, Safe from the Losing Fight.

Day 2: 13:00 to 14:30
Lunch
Lunch will be provided at the conference venue

Day 2: 14:30 to 15:30
The Many Faces of Data Persistence
This session will include a discussion of storing to and loading data from sqlite, webservices, webdav, ftp, archiving, Core Data, PostgreSQL, Tokyo Cabinet as well as others. Be ready for Code Snippets,Pros and Cons,The limitations of the Entity-Relationship model,Versioning,Change histories and more

Aaron Hillegass
Aaron Hillegass is the founder of Big Nerd Ranch and the author of "Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X". As a programmer, he has developed several applications including topsXtreme (an orthodontic practice management system) and Campwhere (an iPhone app for locating public campgrounds). In the past, Aaron worked at both NeXT and Apple.

Day 2: 15:30 to 16:00
Refreshment & Networking Break
We will provide the refreshments you do the networking

Day 2: 16:00 to 17:00
Cocoa Rumble
This mystery session will remain, well a mystery. All will be revealed to those who attend.


Day 2: 17:00
The Mac Developer Conference Closes


Some Quotes From Last Years Delegates

"Just wanted to say a huge thank you for NSConference. I've tried all weekend to find something negative to write but have failed!! NSConference was 'awesome' as our American friends would say! Great venue, plenty food, amazing speakers and sessions and the whole thing ran like clockwork. The effort you guys went to was very much appreciated.

The community spirit was also fantastic - us Mac developers are a real friendly bunch aren't we!

Can't wait to do it all again next year."
Gordon Murrison
Open Planet Software


"Pretty much everything was perfect! I'm amazed by the quality of it, for the 1st time."
Stuff MC
Pomcast


"First and most important bit of feedback: NSConference rocked and I'll likely be the first person to register again next year if you do another one."
Martin Pilkington
MCubed Software


"I thought I should let you know that one of the sachets of milk in my room had gone off. I mention this because after a great deal of thought it is the only negative thing I could think off."
Gavin MacLean
Open Planet Software


"Firstly, a huge well done - the whole thing from my point of view as a visitor went smoothly. Tim even helped carry my luggage to my room - what a star :) The sessions ran pretty much to time, everything was where it was meant to be, so a huge well done. It's the kind of thing that gets missed I think - you delivered what you promised, and that's actually very hard :)"
Michael Dales
1 Day iPhone Developer Conference


New For 2010

A one day (5 Session) conference with presentations from some of the worlds top iPhone developers aimed at intermediate to advanced iPhone developers.

You can book just for the iPhone conference or make it a great value optional bolt-on to the Mac Developer Conference

Again our focus for this conference is going to be community. To ensure everyone gets a chance to meet everyone else we are intentionally keeping the conference small.

This year there will be a maximum of 200 spaces at each venue so make sure you book early to guarantee you get in.
Speakers, Sessions & Schedule

08:00
Registration Opens
09:00 to 09:15
Welcome Again!
Find out what's going on , when it's going on and how you get involved with it all

Scotty
Scotty is the founder of The Mac Developer Network, host of the MDN Show and co-organizer of NSConference.

09:15 to 10:15
Conference KeyNote: Meet The User
You and the users of your software are very different indeed. Your situations, motivations, and expectations are radically different, often leading to conflict. However, you do have one thing very much in common with your users: you are annoyed by things that sucks. Starting from this simple seed, we'll learn to see things from another person's eyes.

Mike Lee
Mike Lee, the World’s Toughest Programmer,is the founder and CEO of United Lemur, a philanthropic revolution disguised as a software company. Mike also cofounded Tapulous, whose titles include Tap Tap Revenge and Twinkle. Prior to iPhone, Mike cut his teeth and won an Apple Design Award at Seattle-based Delicious Monster Software. Mike is originally from Honolulu, is a popular blogger and occasional pundit, and has been seen on twitter as ©bmf.

10:15 to 10:45
Refreshment & Networking Break
We will provide the refreshments you do the networking

10:45 to 11:45
Hard and Fast OpenGL ES
This session is intended for experienced iPhone programmers who are unfamiliar with OpenGL ES and the mathematics and concepts of three dimensional graphics. We'll start from the beginning, and talk about the architecture of OpenGL ES works and how it's implemented in the two GPUs currently available in iPhones, review the basic mathematics of three dimensional graphics. We'll look at creating 3D geometry in third party applications and look at the optimal ways to submit geometry to OpenGL ES, and discuss the differences between OpenGL ES 1.1, which is available on all iPhones and OpenGL ES 2.0, which is only available on the iPhone 3Gs and the 32mb and 64mb third generation iPod touch. Though starting from the beginning, this session will cram a lot of information and sample code into an hour, giving you everything you need to hit the ground running with 3D programming on the iPhone.

Jeff LaMarche
Jeff LaMarche is the co-author of the award winning book Beginning iPhone 3 Development, one of the best selling books on software development of recent years. He is also co-author of the upcoming More iPhone 3 Development and maintains, is a contributor to the upcoming book Learn Cocoa, and was the technical reviewer for the book Learn Objective-C. Jeff also maintains a fairly widely-read blog about iPhone software development and has written for both MacTech magazine and for Apple's Developer Technical Services' website.

11:45 to 12:15
Refreshment & Networking Break
We will provide the refreshments you do the networking

12:15 to 13:15
Core Data Synchronization
In this session, Marcus will be discussing his solution to local network data synchronization using Core Data and his new open source project ZSync. The session will walk through how the synchronization of data works between a Mac OS X desktop/laptop and a Cocoa Touch device. This synchronization works whether the associated desktop application is running or not and has the added bonus of being able to synchronize with MobileMe if the end user happens to have an account.

Marcus Zarra
Marcus S. Zarra is the owner of Zarra Studios LLC and the creator of seSales and iWeb Buddy as well as being a co-author of "Cocoa Is My Girlfriend", a wildly popular blog covering all aspects of Cocoa development. Marcus has been developing software since the mid-1980s and has written software in all of the major technological fields. Marcus has been using Core Data since its original release in OS X 10.4 Tiger and has released numerous applications and papers covering all of the topics of Core Data.

13:15 to 14:30
Lunch
Lunch will be provided at the conference venue

14:30 to 15:30
The Physics of Sumos: Developing iPhone Games with Core Animation
This talk will cover the technical lessons learned in developing Sumo Master for iPhone. Sumo Master is built entirely with the Core Animation framework, and various coding tips and tricks will be included that are useful not only for games, but to add polish to any iPhone app. Aspects of the software process, such as brainstorming, design, iteration, working with a designer, and so forth, will also be touched upon.

Drew McCormack
Drew McCormack is a scientific programmer and researcher in the Theoretical Chemistry Department of the Free University in Amsterdam. He is a board member and regular contributor on the MacResearch.org web site, and develops the Cocoa flash card application 'Mental Case' in his spare time. Drew has written articles and tutorials on Cocoa development for the Apple Developer Connection (ADC), O'Reilly's Mac Dev Center, and MacResearch.org, and co-authored the book 'Beginning Mac OS X Programming' with Mike Trent.

15:30 to 16:00
Refreshment & Networking Break
We will provide the refreshments you do the networking

16:00 to 17:00
Supporting Online Play and GameKit in Your Application
Learn the ins and outs of adding network play to your applications. We'll look at using Apple's GameKit framework to add networking over Bluetooth and will also look at doing stream communications to support online and LAN play and techniques to support these two different approaches in the same application so you can offer users of your application both.

Jeff LaMarche
Jeff LaMarche is the co-author of the award winning book Beginning iPhone 3 Development, one of the best selling books on software development of recent years. He is also co-author of the upcoming More iPhone 3 Development and maintains, is a contributor to the upcoming book Learn Cocoa, and was the technical reviewer for the book Learn Objective-C. Jeff also maintains a fairly widely-read blog about iPhone software development and has written for both MacTech magazine and for Apple's Developer Technical Services' website.

17:00
The iPhone Developer Conference Closes



NSConference 2010 (Europe) iPhone Developer Conference
3rd Feb 2010: £99+VAT (£69+VAT for Students) as an Add-On to The Mac Developer Conference or £149+VAT (£99+VAT for Students) as a stand alone event

Booking Now Open Here

NSConference 2010 (USA) iPhone Developer Conference
21st Feb 2010: $149 ($99 for Students) as an Add-On to The Mac Developer Conference or $249 ($149 for Students) as a stand alone event

Book Here

Optional Workshops
This year we are offering two optional 6 hour workshops.

Each workshop will run from 10am to 5pm (with an hour for lunch) and will be based on a single subject allowing attendees to dig much deeper than a single conference session would allow.


The World According to Gemmell
Instructor: Matt Gemmell

Join the famous Matt Legend Gemmell for a day as he takes you through his views and opinions on the full life cycle of Mac application development. If you like his World According To Gemmell segment on The MDN Show then get your passport, go through border control and become a part of his world
Concurrent Programming on Snow Leopard
Instructor: Drew McCormack

With Snow Leopard, Apple introduced new technologies to help developers deal with the rise of multicore, and the new role of the GPU as a computational device.

The technologies introduced represent a dramatic departure from traditional approaches to concurrency such as multithreading.

In this workshop Drew McCormack will provide a hands on introduction to these technologies by way of a real world example (eg ray tracing, particle physics).

Beginning with a naive algorithm, various approaches to performance optimization will be introduced and tested. Technologies such as NSOperation, Grand Central Dispatch, and OpenCL will be covered, and contrasted to traditional multithreading.

NSConference 2010 (Europe) Workshops
31st January Feb 2010: £125+VAT each (£85+VAT for Students)

Book Here

NSConference 2010 (USA)
22nd-23rd Feb 2010: $199 each ($139 for Students)

Book Here

Book Now for NSConference (Europe) Here
Book Now for NSConference (USA) Here