Software development

Some of our members are experienced software developers and we have talked for a long time about running courses in programming and software development.

Current plans

An introduction to programming in C -- An evening course in computer programming (perhaps also Arduino/microcontroller programming).

The Software Development Study Group

There was a previous attempt to set up a regular meeting to share software development skills [1]. It is currently dormant.

In 2011 I tried to organise a regular study group at Nottingham Hackspace and several people expressed an interest. We initially met on Wednesdays during the open nights and then moved to quieter Tuesday evenings, continuing in total for 13 weeks. By meeting at the same time every week I hoped we would eventually make it a regular event, and I tried to promote it mainly within the hackspace and by word of mouth. This approach wasn't very successful; the meetings were poorly attended and people tended to turn up very late. On one occasion nobody else showed and that was frustrating. We did have some successes though: we helped one person complete a prototype for an Android app, we helped a few people to fix bugs in their PIC and Android code, and we experimented with game programming in C++ with Ogre. For anybody attempting to organise a similar group in future, I'd suggest these things: make sure you have a comfortable place to meet, be prepared to spend lots of time promoting the meetings widely, and expect it to be a thankless task. In the hackspace I think we've had more success with one-off events and workshops (such as the Arduion Sunday or Chunky's evening workshops) than with regular weekly/monthly meetings (such as this study group and the cartoon club). -- Marcus 15:12, 2 May 2012 (EST)

Inspiration from other hackspaces

These are some regular events and workshops that have been held in other hackspaces around the world:

Noisebridge

• PyClass - Learn how to program using the Python programming language.
• Django Study Group - install and use the Django Python-based web framework
• Ruby Class - 2 hour session once a week
• Introduction to C Programming
• Machine learning

Hacker's Dojo:

• Algorithms for fun -- "we'll try to understand basic algorithms. We'll also discuss simple puzzles and brain teasers."
• Machine Learning