[VDBUH22] Mark Heckler - Using Coding Powers for Good in a World That Doesn’t Always Feel that Way

We’re developers, and we solve problems often just because we’re “wired that way”. Even so, sometimes it feels like bad news is just a harbinger of…more bad news. Do you ever just feel overwhelmed and mentally exhausted by the madness that is going on in the world? But we are developers. People of action. And we have tools that we can put to work to maybe, just maybe, contribute a little to the positive side of the balance sheet. In this session, the presenter will share the thought processes that led to the creation of the OSEW system, the Open Source Early Warning system. OSEW monitors publicly-available aviation APIs and allows its user(s) to define geographical boundaries to monitor, country/ies of origin for flights of interest, and flight track information; this enables OSEW to detect and notify of inbound flights of interest. The presenter will also show how to take an idea, identify and choose public APIs for use, and build a minimum viable system of microservices that accomplishes the following things: Gets you moving, productively Allows you to deliver something useful quickly Serves as a foundation for more/better functionality Inspires you to build a better world