2010 ESRI Developer Summit
Thriving on Shared Innovation

If success is measured by the din of collaborative exchange, then the 2010 ESRI Developer Summit was a triumph. One could barely walk 10 feet without overhearing attendees exchanging ideas about how they improved their work with GIS tools. The chatter was strong evidence that GIS is an inherently interpersonal discipline and thrives on the energy of shared innovation.

By Matthew DeMeritt

That collaborative spirit was enhanced last year with the addition of user presentations to the Developer Summit. With twice as many presentations this year compared to last, developers had a wide range of topics to learn about and apply to their work environment. Many of the presentations packed the largest rooms at the Palm Springs Convention Center and were followed by spirited and informative Q&A. More often than not, Q&A sessions spilled into the lobby of the venue and took on a life of their own.

ESRI selected user presentations based on their usefulness in tackling everyday problems. A standout among user presenters, Timmons Group’s Vish Uma gave two presentations on common obstacles that developers face. His first presentation on continuous integration (CI) highlighted the commonality in workflows across a dauntingly wide spectrum of software and organizations. Uma shared best practices for overcoming the challenges posed by the GIS software development process and explained how he optimized his workflow through automation. “One of my big revelations with the last release of ArcGIS was how many tasks I could eliminate from my schedule by simply automating them,” said Uma. “All of the sudden, building and deploying solutions became more fun and opened new avenues of inspiration. That’s why CI is so important.” One attendee commented, “I had no idea how much time I wasted with manual configuration. Now I see how I can automate key aspects of my work.” 

Jack Dangermond addresses the crowd at the Plenary session.

In his second presentation, Uma demonstrated how he overcame the problem of limited Web client printing solutions. In it, he shared the architecture behind a printing service he built for Timmons. The service was invaluable in overcoming well-known limitations, such as the inability to print multiple map services over a basemap. “Talking to ESRI technicians over the years has helped me find workable solutions to real problems,” say Uma. “It’s rewarding to be able to pay ESRI back for their assistance by helping my peers. It’s what Jack Dangermond means by ‘GIS community.’”

APIs and Mashup Challenge
Presentations on APIs were a top draw.  More half of all user presentations mentioned their applicability in a multitude of scenarios.  Brenden Collins  and Steven Andari from Blue Raster software presented on their ArcGIS Server/Flex “super-mashup” for the Southern Forest for the Future Project. Their project integrated YouTube and Flickr, as well as WMS and KML, into a rich Web application  that uses dynamic map-caching to create a time series of urban sprawl. “The service raises awareness about the invaluable resources that forests provide, like fresh water, timber, and recreation,” said Collins.  His first ESRI Developer Summit, Collins was overwhelmed by the availability of ESRI staff on the showcase floor. “I found myself gravitating to the Flex and geoprocessing teams with all my nagging questions and getting immediate answers,” he adds. “That was enormously helpful and a pleasant surprise.”

Developers responded with many novel entries in the 2010 Mashup Challenge, making it difficult to select a winner. The guidelines were simple: build a mashup using ESRI's ArcGIS Online content and Web APIs, publish the related URL, and post a video describing the application on YouTube. After careful evaluation, Dave Bouwman, CTO and lead software architect at DTSAgile of Fort Collins, Colorado, took the top prize of $10,000. His Executive Compensation Mashup, compared top U.S. executive salaries with the total income for selected counties in the United States. 

DevSum attendees could meet with ESRI development staff to discuss solutions and get their questions answered.

Bouwman and his DTSAgile colleague Brian Noyle also received some of the best attendance of all the user presentations. One of Bouwman’s presentations, “Ruby-fu: Using ArcGIS Server with Rails,” explained how Ruby on Rails, a popular Web development platform that powers Twitter, Hulu, and Basecamp, can be configured to work with ArcGIS Server. One of Noyle’s presentations covered the hot issue of iPhone and Android app writing. Noyle demonstrated the design and implementation of a geocoding-enabled site for location-based feedback within a user’s local community. 

ArcGIS.com
Many developers made a beeline for the technical sessions, especially the ones that previewed the capabilities of ArcGIS 10. ESRI’s Jeremy Bartley and Keyur Shah demonstrated the REST API’s ability to create maps; execute queries, geoprocessing, geocoding, and geometry operations; access tiles; and generate KML. Attendees learned how to use the REST API in a variety of mashup environments including JavaScript, HTML, Google Earth, Python, and other Web technologies. “I noticed that the really popular sessions focused on extending servers through .NET and Java,” says Bartley. “One of the exciting developments at ArcGIS 10 is that it supports writing custom server object extensions that can be consumed in both SOAP and REST services, which is hugely significant to developers.”

Many peer-to-peer discussions took place before and after the user and technical sessions.

Bartley also kicked off the plenary session with the unveiling and demonstration of ArcGIS.com, an online resource for finding and using geographic content from ESRI and many other sources.  “ArcGIS.com will give developers a platform to share applications through links and through code,” says Bartley. “From a developer perspective, this is exciting because programmers can share their information securely within groups. It also includes all the Web APIs, Flex, Javascript, and iPhone as well, which are integral to building solutions today.”

Keynote speaker David Chappell, principal of Chappell and Associates, delivered an engaging address on cloud platform development. He defined cloud computing, discussed new and future trends, and explained what it means to GIS developers building with ArcGIS and deploying it in the cloud. 

Despite a wheezing economy, the turnout for the 2010 ESRI Developer Summit was stronger than ever. This year’s summit proved that businesses and governments recognize geospatial technology as an integrated framework for conducting business and serving communities. 

For more information, have a look at www.esri.com/events/devsummit/index.html