The Best Software Engineering Conferences
Where U.S. Developers Go to Improve Their Skills
Passionate software developers are always learning and testing new software engineering methods. Staying on top of industry changes and trends is an exciting part of the job. The software engineering field is constantly evolving thanks to advancements in areas like the internet of things (IoT), agile development, big data analytics, visualization, AI, and much more.
These amazing software engineering conferences bring the brightest minds in software development together. Developers from all over the country flock to these events to learn about and discuss industry breakthroughs. These events create an environment where like-minded professionals can network and bounce opinions and ideas off each other. Regardless of the particular technologies that you’re interested in, these types of conferences are sure to sharpen your professional skills and prepare you to excel in the ever-changing industry of software development.
We have ranked them in two categories:
- Must-attend engineering conferences
- Cross-discipline conferences
Check out our comprehensive list of the top software engineering conferences happening around the country!
Must-attend engineering conferences
This selection is based primarily on the high interest we have observed among attendees, growing year-on-year.
Microsoft Build
Twitter: @bldwin / #Build2018
Web: buildwindows.com
Date: May 10-12
Location: Downtown Seattle, Washington
OSCON (O’Reilly Open Source Convention)
Twitter: @oscon / @OReillyMedia / #Oscon
Web: conferences.oreilly.com
Date: July 16-19
Location: Portland, Oregon
QCon New York
Twitter: @QCon / @QConNewYork / #qconnewyork
Web: qconnewyork.com
Date: June 27-28 Conference; June 25-26 Workshops
Location: New York City, New York
QCon San Francisco
Twitter: @QCon / @QConSF / #qconsf
Web: qconsf.com
Date: November 5-7 Conference; November 8-9 Workshops
Location: San Francisco, California
GoTo Conference
Twitter: @GOTOcon / @GOTOchgo / #GOTOChgo)
Web: gotochgo.com
Date: April 25-26 Conference; April 24-27
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Fluent
Twitter: @fluentconf / @OReillyMedia / #FluentConf
Web: conferences.oreilly.com/
Date: June 11-12 Training; June 12-14 Conference
Location: San Jose, California
JavaOne
Twitter: @JavaOneConf / #JavaOne
Web: www.oracle.com/javaone
Date: October 28- November 1
Location: Downtown San Francisco, California
DockerCon
Twitter: @DockerCon / #dockercon
Web: 2018.dockercon.com/
Date: June 12-14
Location: San Francisco, California
ApacheCon North America & Apache Big Data
Twitter: @EventsLF / @ApacheCon / #ApacheCon
Web: linuxfoundation.org
Date: Typically in May
Location: Miami, Florida
Open Source Leadership Summit (formerly LinuxCon)
Twitter: @EventsLF
Web: linuxfoundation.org
Date: March 6-8
Location: Sonoma Valley, California
DeveloperWeek
Twitter: @DeveloperWeek
Web: developerweek.com
Date: February 11-16 (Hackathon February 3-4 / Workshops February 5 / Conference and Expo February 5-7)
Location: San Francisco, California
Apple WWDC
Twitter: #WWDC18
Web: developer.apple.com
Date: Typically in June
Location: Moscone Center, San Francisco, California
Google I/O
Twitter: @googledevs / #GoogleIO / #IO18
Web: developers.google.com
Date: Typically in May
Location: Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, California in 2016, Moscone (SF) in previous years
Software Architecture Conference
Twitter: @oreillysacon / #OReillySACon)
Web: conferences.oreilly.com
Date: February 25-26 Training; February 26-28 Conference
Location: New York, New York
SmashingConf
Twitter: @smashingconf / #SmashingConf
Web: smashingconf.com/sf-2018/
Date: April 1-18
Location: San Francisco, California
Game Developers Conference (GDC)
Twitter: @Official_GDC / #GDC2018
Web: gdconf.com
Date: March 19-23
Location: Moscone Center, San Francisco, California
Facebook F8
Twitter: @fbplatform / #F8
Web: fbf8.com
Date: May 1-2
Location: San Jose, California
Microsoft Ignite
Twitter: @MS_Ignite / #MSIgnite
Web: ignite.microsoft.com
Date: September 24-28
Location: Orlando, Florida
IT/Dev Connections
Twitter: @devconnections / #ITDevCon
Web: devconnections.com
Date: October 15-18
Location: Dallas, Texas
PowerShell and DevOps Global Summit
Twitter: @PSHSummit
Web: powershell.org/summit/
Date: April 9-12, 2018
Location: Bellevue, Washington
Internet of Things Summit
Twitter: #iotsummit #IoTWest18
Web: theinnovationenterprise.com/summits/internet-of-things-summit-san-francisco-2018
Date: April 19-20
Location: San Francisco, California
Cross-discipline conferences
Conferences in this category are targeted at specific industries or technologies — for example, security, cloud computing, DevOps, and open source. Although they aren’t pure development conferences, we believe these gatherings will hold interest for many developers.
Velocity Conference
Twitter: @velocityconf / @OReillyMedia / #velocityconf
Web: velocityconf.com
Location:
San Jose, California — June 11-14
New York City, New York — September 30- October 3
DevOps Enterprise Summit
Twitter: @DOESsummit / #DOES18
Web: devopsenterprise.io
Date: typically in November
Location: San Francisco, California
LISA
Twitter: @LISAConference / @usenix / #LISA18
Web: usenix.org
Date: October 28–November 2
Location: Omni Nashville, Nashville, Tennessee
DevOps Days
Twitter: @devopsdays / #devopsdays
Web: devopsdays.org
Date: Varies
Location: Held throughout the year in multiple cities, mostly in the U.S.
Agile Dev West
Twitter: #BetterSoftwareCon
Web: adcwest.techwell.com/
devopswest.techwell.com/
Date: June 3-8
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Agile Dev East
Web: adceast.techwell.com/
devopseast.techwell.com/
Date: Typically in November
Location: Orlando, Florida
GlueCon
Twitter: @gluecon / #gluecon
Web: https://gluecon.com/
Date: May 16-17
Location: Omni Interlocken, Broomfield, Colorado
RSA
Twitter: @rsaconference / #RSAC
Web: rsaconference.com/events/us18
Date: April 16-20
Location: Moscone Center, San Francisco, California
ChefConf
Twitter: @ChefConf / #ChefConf
Web: chefconf.chef.io/
Date: May 22-25
Location: Hyatt Regency, Chicago, Illinois
Jenkins World
Twitter: @jenkinsconf/ #JenkinsWorld
Web: www.cloudbees.com/jenkinsworld/home
Date: September 16-19
Location: San Francisco, California
PyCon
Twitter: @pycon/ #PyCon
Web: us.pycon.org/2018/
Date: May 9-17
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
We hope you enjoyed this list, and ultimately we hope you book a trip to one of these incredible conferences. Get out there and continue to stay on top of everything that is happening in the world of software development. Check out more great conference resources on our blog.
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