Theme: Don't Repeat Yourself

This year, we'll be exploring that most-ignored concept in computing, DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself). The instances of repetition and wasted effort are many and obvious: duplicated code, duplicated JSRs, duplicated open-source projects, even duplicated teams within a company. More subtle, however, are situations where we are trying to prevent duplication and may end up making things worse. For example, the reason there are many frameworks is probably that the existing ones didn't quite do the job, so we build another. Occasionally the newer frameworks are a positive move, but the process of proliferation can cause excess confusion and drive people away -- or drive them to create yet another framework. And consider the "not invented here" syndrome. It's usually harmful, but sometimes it's the right choice. What about "make one to throw away?" Does practice count as duplication? Other potential topics might be open source and the reuse landscape, and the design of libraries for reuse.

Although the theme sets the general tone of the conference, it doesn't prevent session topics that might be considered "off theme." The goal of the theme is to stimulate ideas, not to prevent discussion.