JRuby BugMash and Events!

The holidays are behind us now, and it’s time to jump back into things! The JRuby team is easing into the new year with several upcoming gigs, and we’d love for you to get involved!

JRuby BugMash

The JRuby project has been growing impressively quickly, with frequent releases and a constantly expanding community. There’s a hefty list of impressive users and companies, and the team has been touring the world, trying their best to make it out to everyone who wants to hear and learn about the project.

As with any growing code base though, there’s a need to keep things tidy; frequent releases and speedy development also mean bugs, and things that need fixing—and that’s where we turn to you!

The first ever official JRuby BugMash will take place this Saturday, January 9th through Tuesday, January 12th. The core team will spend the days prior to the BugMash highlighting the specific bugs that are most important—you’ll want to keep an eye out for the JRuby Intro section, which will one of the focuses of the BugMash. Also look in spec/tags for failing RubySpecs for JRuby’s 1.8 and 1.9 compatibility modes. There’s a lot of low-hanging fruit (especially in 1.9) for both new and experienced developers. Then, Saturday morning, it’s off to the races! As a small token of our appreciation, in addition to the wonderful satisfaction of having made a difference to the project, we’ll be sending each of the first 100 participants a limited edition JRubyConf Poster.

The JRuby Core Team will be around on IRC channel #jruby throughout the BugMash to help folks get started and to answer questions. Be sure to stop in and say hello!

##January Events

In addition to the BugMash, the team will be heading out twice this month to talk to new folks about making JRuby a part of their development process. If you’re anywhere in the neighborhood, be sure to stop in, or reach out via email! We’d love to meet you.

CodeMash

CodeMash is a multi-language and platform event, with tracks and talks on everything from Java and .net to Python and Ruby; some 900 developers will be in attendance, and the event is already completely sold out. Nick Sieger will be on hand, talking about how to cure the Java Blues with JRuby.

JFokus

JFokus is Sweden’s largest annual Java show, and in this it’s fourth year, hopes to attract even more attendees than last year (650!). Charles Nutter will be giving an introductory talk on JRuby, helping folks get up and running with JRuby.

There will of course be even more JRuby talks and events coming up; keep an eye on the Engine Yard Blog and JRuby Facebook page for updates!