The First Manila.js Meetup

Last March 8, Leo and I walked our way to Eastwood. LOL. Well that's not really it. We went to the Manila.JS meetup held at the ProudCloud offices in Eastwood City, Libis. This is an event organized for all the Javascript enthusiasts to learn more about the technology and share their experiences with one another. This is also a day of reunion for my PUP-BSIT batchmates, Donn and Zey which I haven't seen for two years straight, as well as Ben and Michelle who I'm seeing for two years straight since we're officemates.

There were three speakers for this event: Jason Torres, James Florentino and Rico Sta. Cruz, the organizer of this gathering. Jason discussed the history of Javascript and how it is used and will be used. It was really interesting since I was just introduced to Javascript by force. LOL. Well, what really happened is that I was asked at work to use asynchronous calls using AJAX and create pretty UIs. But as the speaker said, Javascript is not for user interface or JUST the client side of development. It has features for server-side programming as well. Too bad it was not discussed further.

The next speaker James, explained the use of Javascript in prototyping. I wasn't able to understand what he speaks of but I was able to follow using the code he's been typing as he talks. Generally, what I understood was about inheritance from the parent class to the extended one using the prototype attribute. There was a lot of func-ceptions (function within a function within a function) in Javascript, and this part proved it. The talk was done before I knew it.

I wasn't able to listen to Rico's talk but according to the event website, he'll be sharing about Javascript as a server-side language since I need to go early for my undone Japanese assignment. Despite that, the event was cool. It has a laid back feel with its house party aura: snacks on the side and people mingling. Things to improve on may include live examples and some getting-to-know-each-other activities. Overall, the event's awesome. You can visit the Manila.JS website for more information.

Cheers to the Manila.js community!