This session will begin with a brief introduction to NoSQL. Relational databases have worked on past projects. Why change now? Is NoSQL just a buzzword with no real substance? What can it do that relational can’t? What about all those horror stories and memes?

We’ll look at the best use cases for non-relational databases, how projects have succeeded and failed, and the tools and patterns for using NoSQL and SQL together. If scaling, flexibility, and speed are major concerns on your radar, or if you’re skeptical that the world needs anything but relational, then this session is for you.

This session will look at NoSQL through the lens of the characters from the Halt and Catch Fire TV show: Do you work with a “visionary” like Joe who thinks NoSQL will solve every problem? Are you an engineer like Gordon who doesn’t want to rush into it? Are you like Cameron and just want to smash the big establishment databases? Do you know a Tom who distrusts open-source? Or are you more like Donna and want to find a sensible approach that uses the best of both worlds? Come to this session to find out if you really need NoSQL.

There will be no November meeting this year as it lands on the day before Thanksgiving. So, Happy Thanksgiving and we’ll see you in December at the annual Holiday Party!

We will not be having our regular meeting in December. Instead, we’ll have a holiday party! More details as they arrive.

In some languages a sort method works on all primitive data types right out of the box. In JavaScript this is not the case - the sort method yields unexpected results with numeric data types. This is because the sort method in JavaScript converts everything to a string and then compares all values as strings.

Timothy is recent graduate from Columbus State with an interest in JavaScript and .NET.

As cloud providers take over more and more back end operations, organizations will increasingly have larger and larger percentages of their developers working on the front end. And it’s never been easier for front-end developers to build their own scalable applications without needing a back-end developer or operations teams. This talk will walk through the modern services that make all this possible, from Google Cloud’s Firebase to AWS’s Appsync, with specific action items any front-end developer can take to be completely self-sufficient.

Joe is a serial technical co-founder, recently launching his fifth company, Branch, in March. His previous ventures have been BuildFax (acquired by DMGT), Spaceful (acquired by Xceligent), BluePrince (acquired by Harris Computer), and EphPod (acquired by Wind Solutions). Additionally, he has consulted with many other companies on software development and cloud migrations, including many in the DMGT portfolio. Joe graduated with degrees in English and Mathematics from Williams College and has a law degree from Yale Law School.

This talk will cover the basics of talking to the Slack API with a handful of Node libraries: node-fetch, ws, and express. I’ll show some incremental examples for building a (zombie horror) Choose-your-own-adventure app, and how the building blocks used for that can be extended to build a productivity app, namely an iCalendar processor that gives in-channel notifications when meetings are about to start.

We’ll cover:

• Creating personal Slack teams
• Granting auth to a new app
• Using await/fetch with bearer tokens for simple data collection and message posting
• Using WebSockets for real-time messaging
• Callbacks and triggers from user button clicks
• Registering slash commands
• Surviving the zombie apocalypse

Curtis Autery is a software engineer at Beam Dental, campus instructor for Girls Who Code, runs a coding club at Graham Expeditionary Middle School, and is an occasional speaker and mentor for the Columbus freeCodeCamp chapter.