Staying up-to-date with the latest developments is vital in any technology field, but especially when it comes to software and programming. One of the fastest—and most enjoyable—ways to keep learning is to attend a conference. With thousands available, though, where do you start?
We put together this directory of the top programming and software development conferences of 2020 that are most beneficial. Dates, locations, and prices are included so you can align your priorities with your need. This directory will be updated, so check back regularly. To add a programming or software development conference to this directory, contact us at blogs@bmc.com with details include including the conference name, dates of the event, location, and a link to your event’s website.
For a wider selection of general IT events, see IT/Technology Conferences of 2020. For more topic-specific conferences, check out our round-ups on DevOps Conferences, CyberSecurity Conferences, and Voice Tech Conferences.
Note: Some event information may be out of date due to COVID-19. Please confirm details with event organizers.
Top Programming & Software Development Conferences for 2020
DeveloperWeek
Date: February 12-16, 2020
Location: San Francisco, CA
Cost: $545-$1,595
One of the world’s largest expo and conferences for developers, DeveloperWeek features 50 different events over the course of the week. The main DeveloperWeek Conference and Expo typically sees more than 8,000 attendees, hosting talks from leaders in the field. This year’s top professionals hail from Google, Facebook, Yelp, Rackspace, IBM, Cloudera, Red Hat, Optimizely, SendGrid, Blackberry, Microsoft, Neo Technology, Eventbrite, Klout, Built.io, and Ripple.
Some conference tracks include dev technologies that are constantly innovating: from blockchain and AI to big data and quantum computing. Particular events include:
- DeveloperWeek Hackathon, which sees more than 1,000 attendees and invites area developers to build apps from scratch to compete for a cash prize.
- DevExec World, new this year, is two days of roundtable talks, educational talks, and networking events for engineering managers, tech executives, and lead developers.
O’Reilly Software Architecture Conference
Date: February 23-26, 2020
Location: New York City, NY
Cost: $1,495- $2,195
The O’Reilly Software Architecture Conference is a massive conference that provides resources that cover the full scope of a software architect’s duties. The conference is a forum for networking, where expert speakers and real-world professionals share their insights and experiences. There are also professional training and teaching opportunities needed to excel in this field.
Sessions at the 2020 event will cover topics like microservices, cloud computing, and serverless, as well as emerging trends in AI, machine learning, and data analytics. Keynote speakers this year include:
- Cristina Turbatu, Architect at Playtech
- Scott Davis, Web Architect and Developer Advocate at ThoughtWorks
- Luca Mezzalira, VP of Architecture at DAZN
- Gregor Hohpe, Advisor at ArchitectElevator.com
- Maggie Carroll, Senior Engineer at MAG Aerospace
- Sonya Natanzon, Solutions Architect at Guardant Health
SuperConf
Location: Miami, FL
Date: March 13-14, 2020
Cost: $375-420
SuperConf is a conference for makers! The designers, developers and entrepreneurs molding our future. Hosted in sunny Miami (Wynwood to be exact). It’s an intimate conference with only 250 tickets, so you’ll get a chance to meet everyone; attendees, speakers, founders, and more.
PowerShell and DevOps Global Summit
Date: April 27-30, 2020
Location: Bellevue, WA
Cost: $1,750
The PowerShell and DevOps Global Summit is an annual event featuring expert presenters and an opportunity for the entire PowerShell community to network and share ideas. With a focus on Microsoft’s PowerShell automation and configuration tool, the conference offers attendees the opportunity to engage with experts, product team members, and like-minded peers.
This 400+ level event is an excellent opportunity if you’re working with PowerShell, Desired State Configuration, and related technologies—especially if you’re moving your organization toward a DevOps environment.
Facebook F8
Date: May 5-6, 2020
Location: Online and select events in San Jose, CA
Cost: $595
Facebook F8 is intended for developers and entrepreneurs who build products and services around the social media platform. The event features more than 50 sessions and focuses on all concepts related to the social media leader. Deep-dive sessions and product demos showcase the latest in AI, open source, AR/VR, developer programs as well as new tools across Facebook’s family of apps.
While the highlight of the conference is Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s keynote, attendees can usually expect at least one big announcement regarding Facebook products or new innovations. Zuckerberg’s 2019 keynote addressed issues like growing privacy concerns, updates to Instagram, Facebook Messenger, and Facebook’s core service, more news about the Oculus Quest and Rift S virtual reality headsets, and a new dating feature on the site.
Apple WWDC
Date: June 2020 (TBD)
Location: San Francisco, CA
Cost: $1,599 (ticket lottery)
The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference is Apple’s largest event for developers—it dominates the tech scene and garners the attention of press, industry experts, customers, and MacOS and iOS developers. The event features in-depth technical sessions, hands-on labs in a collaborative group setting, one-on-one consultations with Apple experts by appointment, and entertaining talks by industry experts and luminaries.
The 2019 WWDC was a huge event, with Apple introducing feature after feature and new versions of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS over the course of a 2.5-hour keynote.
QCon New York
Date: June 15-17, 2020
Location: New York City, NY
Cost: $1,985-$3,545
QCon is an international software development conference that helps software teams adopt new trends and technologies. QCon New York features 15 editorial tracks over three days with 140+ industry experts from companies such as Google, Uber, Slack, Dropbox, Twitter, and more.
Speakers from the 2019 event included:
- Jason Hand, Senior Cloud Advocate at Microsoft
- Ryan Kitchens, Site Reliability Engineer at Netflix
- Alex Beutel, Senior ResearchScientist at Google
- Julia Grace, Senior Director of Infrastructure and Engineering at Slack
- Petrica Voicu, Software Engineer at PayPal
DeveloperWeek Global 2020
Date: June 16-17, 2020
Location: Online
Cost: Free for some resources; $395 for full access
DeveloperWeek Global 2020 is the world’s largest virtual developer & engineering conference, where thousands of participants from across the globe converge online for 100+ keynote & technical talks, developer technology virtual pitch contest, developer awards, virtual hackathon, virtual expo, and prizes for supporting the developer community.
DeveloperWeek Global is produced by the DevNetwork team. We attract 20,000+ on-site attendees annually at our events DeveloperWeek SF Bay, DeveloperWeek New York, DeveloperWeek Seattle, and more.
DockerCon
Date: June 15-18, 2020
Location: Austin, TX
Cost: $1,395
DockerCon is a three-day conference that focuses on the next generation of distributed apps that are built with containers. The conference provides numerous opportunities to learn how others are already using the Docker platform and containers. Attendees can expect advanced technical talks, hands-on lab tutorials, talks from leading practitioners, and breakout sessions on topics like:
- Building your Development Pipeline
- Container Security: Theory and Practice at Netflix
- Dockerfile Best Practice
- Practical Istio
- Containerized Databases for Enterprise Applications
Among the speakers of past events include: Solomon Hykes, founder and CTO of Docker; Ben Golub, CEO of Docker; Laura Frank, Director of Software Development at Codeship; and Liz Rice, Technical Evangelist at Aqua Security.
Open Source Summit
Date: June 22-24, 2020
Location: Austin, TX
Cost: $800-$1,200
The Open Source Summit is a combination of three sub-conferences—LinuxCon, ContainerCon, and CloudOpen. Every year the Summit brings together more than 2,000 developers, operators, and industry leaders to learn about the latest trends in open source and dive into the newest technologies.
This event covers cornerstone open source technologies; helps ecosystem leaders to navigate open source transformation with the Diversity Empowerment Summit and tracks on business and compliance; and delves into the newest technologies and latest trends touching open source, including networking, cloud-native, edge computing, and AI.
OSCON
Date: July 13-16, 2020
Location: Portland, OR
Cost: $1,395 for a Bronze pass
Open Source Convention, aka OSCON, is an annual event that brings together engineers, developers, and business leaders to transform the practice of software development and revolutionize the next wave of innovation. Expect programming on vital topics like:
- Machine learning
- TensorFlow
- Kubernetes
- Artificial intelligence
- Cloud native
This conference will help you explore the latest open source tools and technologies; get expert in-depth training in crucial languages, frameworks, and best practices; and gain exposure to the open source stack in all its possible configurations.
DrupalCon Global: The Open Source Digital Experience Conference
Date: July 14-17, 2020
Location: Online everywhere
Cost: Varies
DrupalCon Global is the international educational event that unites the people who use, develop, design and support the Drupal platform. It is the premiere conference to hone your Drupal skills, connect with the community, and learn about the future of web technologies happening on the Drupal platform.
DevOpsCon London
Date: August 31-September 3, 2020
Location: London, UK
Cost: €799 (2-day pass); €1,299 (4-day pass)
Offering the latest technologies and methods for lean business, DevOpsCon London is a four-day conference designed for software experts. The event features in-depth workshops, sessions, and keynotes from international speakers and industry experts, and covers a wide range of relevant topics helping companies approach their daily challenges and find solutions. DevOpsCon London is part of the DevOpsCon global conference series that brings together experts and influencers of the DevOps world in 5 locations world-wide (London, Berlin, Singapore, and New-York).
The 2020 conference tracks are:
- Kubernetes Ecosystem
- Microservices & Software Architecture
- Continuous Delivery & Automation
- Cloud Platforms & Serverless
- Security
- Business & Company Culture
- Monitoring, Traceability & Diagnostics
Oracle Code One
Dates: September 21-24, 2020
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Cost: $1,450- $2,050
Previously known as JavaOne, Oracle Code one is generally recognized as the largest conference for Java developers. Learning tracks cover subjects like Java and security; Java, DevOps and the cloud; and Java and the IoT. Oracle Code One is held alongside Oracle OpenWorld—attendees can get passes to both conferences.
Previous conference featured keynote speakers include: Mark Cavage, Vice President of Software Development at Oracle; Georges Saab, Vice President of Development at Oracle; Buster Benson, Platform Product Lead at a Slack; and John Duimovich, Java CTO and IBM Distinguished Engineer at IBM.
Microsoft Ignite
Date: September 21-25, 2020
Location: New Orleans, LA
Cost: $2,395
The Microsoft Ignite conference is Microsoft’s annual meeting specifically for enterprise professionals, services, and products. Features more than 700 sessions, Ignite offers its 25,000+ attendees priority access to technical training, new and innovative tools, and opportunities to network with peers and experts in the tech community.
The conference covers topics such as architecture, deployment, development, operations and management, implementation and migration, security, access management and compliance, and usage and adoption. The keynote speakers of Microsoft Ignite 2019 were Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft; Bill McDermott, CEO of SAP; and Shantanu Narayen, CEO of Adobe Systems.
DevOps Con
Date: September 28-October 1, 2020
Location: New York, NY
Cost: $1,043
Heralded as “The Conference”, DevOps Con is offers preeminent programming on continuous delivery, microservices, Docker, clouds, and lean business. The event includes an expo floor as well as 60+ unique sessions and keynotes. Attendees can expect information about the latest tools, technologies, and methodologies for building and maintaining a secure, scalable, and resilient software systems.
Tracks of the 2020 conference will include:
- Kubernetes Ecosystem
- Microservices & Software Architecture
- Continuous Delivery & Automation
- Cloud Platforms & Serverless
- Security
- Business & Company Culture
- Monitoring, Traceability & Diagnostics
Past speakers of the event include: Pieter Buteneers from Playn; Melanie Patrick from Trivago; Marc Cohen from Google; and Mike McGarr from Netflix.
QCon Plus
Dates: November 4-18, 2020
Location: Online
Cost: Various pricing packages available
QCon Plus is a virtual conference for senior software engineers and architects on the trends, best practices and solutions leveraged by the world’s most innovative software shops. QCon is a global conference that’s been running for over 15 years.
DEVintersection
Date: December 8-10, 2020
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Cost: $1,599- $3,046
DEVintersection is an annual conference led by top Microsoft experts as they dive deep into new software developments and its intersection with technology. Featuring 100+ in-depth sessions presented by Microsoft engineers and other industry leaders, the 2020 conference will cover topics such as:
- Azure
- Visual Studio
- SQL Server
- AI
- Big Data
- Security
- Mobile
- Machine Learning
A few of the speakers of this year’s conference include: Scott Guthrie, Executive Vice President of the Cloud and AI Group; Scott Hanselman, Principal Community Architect for Web Platform and Tools; Julia Liuson, Corporate VP; and Charles Lamanna, Corporate VP.
Top Programming Conferences of 2020
No matter which of these programming conferences you choose, you will surely gain access to some of the latest technologies and methods in the industry while understanding insights from the top experts in the world.
