Software Development Best Practices 2008 Features World-Renowned Keynote Speakers Including Fog Creek Software Founder Joel Spolsky and Roboticist James McLurkin

Think Services today announced that two distinguished speakers have been chosen to keynote at Software Development Best Practices 2008 Conference & Expo. The event, presented by Dr. Dobb's Events, will take place October 27-30 at Boston's Hynes Convention Center in conjunction with the Embedded Systems Conference. Now in its sixth year, the brightest minds in the industry continue to gather at Software Development Best Practices 2008 to learn about the latest business-critical technologies, network with peers, engage with leading vendors and get inspiration from software visionaries.

Joel Spolsky, author of the widely-read "Joel on Software" blog and founder of Fog Creek Software, will present a keynote address on Monday, October 27 entitled "Making Great Software." Spolsky will examine why in many product categories, from software to consumer electronics, the product with the most market share is often more expensive and less functional than the number two product. He'll explore what causes this to happen and suggest some ways to design a blue chip product that people love.

James McLurkin, world-renowned designer of robot swarms, will deliver an interactive keynote on Thursday, October 30 entitled "Dances with Robots: The Story of One Engineer, 112 Little Robots and the Toys, Insects and Star Wars Movies that Made It All Possible." Society's views on robots, Hollywood's portrayal of them, the current state of the art and the future of the technology will be discussed, along with philosophical questions about the nature of intelligence. McLurkin will give a live demonstration of his robots swarms in action and will explain the technology required to produce group behaviors on one hundred robots.

These two keynotes add to a lineup of 90+ speakers including:

-- Scott Ambler, the founder of the Agile Modeling, Agile Data, Agile Unified Process and Enterprise Unified Process methodologies

-- David Chappell, vice president & chief technologist for Service-Oriented Architecture at Oracle and co-author of many advanced Web services standards

-- Ellen Gottesdiener, principal consultant at EBG Consulting and author of "The Software Requirements Memory Jogger" -- the go-to industry guide for requirements best practices

-- James Hobart, internationally recognized user interface design consultant specializing in enterprise and Web-based applications

-- Terry Quatrani, Unified Modeling Language (UML) evangelist at IBM and best-selling author of a number of books on visual modeling

-- Johanna Rothman, president of Rothman Consulting Group and the industry's leading expert in the areas of project management, people management, risk management and problem-solving

-- Bjarne Stroustrup, the designer and original implementer of the C++ programming language

-- Herb Sutter, a well-known authority on software development and the lead architect of C++/CLI

-- Rebecca Wirfs-Brock, innovator in practical object analysis and design techniques and president of Wirfs-Brock Associates

Detailed event information including exhibit and sponsorship opportunities can be found at http://www.sdbestpractices.com/. Early registration discounts are available until Friday, September 19. Registration is free for members of the press.

About Dr. Dobb's

Dr. Dobb's is recognized worldwide as the leading resource for the professional software development community. With an award-winning monthly publication (Dr. Dobb's Journal), worldwide technical events and conferences (Dr. Dobb's Events) and one of the web's most comprehensive sites (Dr. Dobb's Portal), Dr. Dobb's attracts the industry's most authoritative audience of professional developers, architects and managers and provides marketing partners highly actionable integrated marketing solutions to reach the software development buying team.

About Think Services

Think Services connects specialized communities worldwide using innovative media, educational events, consulting, training and certification. Providing comprehensive opportunities for people to learn from, network with, and inspire each other, Think Services builds strong brands and works within communities to foster a unique affinity with its products and services. The division's flagship products include the Game Developers Conference, the Webby Award-winning Gamasutra.com, Game Developer magazine, the International Customer Management Institute, HDI, and Dr. Dobb's Journal.

About United Business Media Limited (http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com/)

United Business Media Limited is a leading global business media company. We inform markets and bring the world's buyers and sellers together at events, online, in print, and with the information they need to do business successfully. We focus on serving professional commercial communities, from doctors to game developers, from journalists to jewelry traders, from farmers to pharmacists around the world. Our 6,500 staff in more than 30 countries are organized into specialist teams that serve these communities, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently.

   Contact:
   Jenny Searles
   Dr. Dobb's Events
   415.947.6162
   jsearles@think-services.com

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

SOURCE: Think Services

CONTACT: Jenny Searles of Dr. Dobb's Events, +1-415-947-6162,
jsearles@think-services.com

Web site: http://www.sdbestpractices.com/
http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com/