Speaking at PDX PHP

When you run a technical user group, finding a speaker every month is a challenge. A couple of months ago, I had an idea that would help me and another user group. I got in touch with Alena, who runs PDX PHP, to share my idea with her. I’d go down to Portland and give a talk there, and Alena will come up to Seattle to give a talk at SeaPHP.  She liked the idea. I had a feeling she might. I like visiting Portland, so I was basically giving myself a reason to visit. But if i can help someone else, and build community, then everyone wins!

Last night I spoke at the PDX PHP meetup about the Null Object pattern. It’s one of the newer patterns I’ve adopted lately, so I still working on different scenarios where it might be useful. I proposed in my talk, how it could be used with database SELECT queries. A brief description of Null object is to create Null class that mirrors another class’ methods, so you don’t need to add conditionals to check if a value equals null. This works by using polymorphism.

Anyway, you can download my slides.

I had a great time, met some fantastic people, and spent some time with them. If you have the nearby city with a PHP user group, I recommend you offering to speak there. Not only is it a great way for you to branch out, but user group organizers are always looking for speakers.

Don’t miss Alena’s talk at Seattle PHP in August 2017! Also, don’t forget to buy your tickets for the PNWPHP conference!