2020 conferences for software developers and architects

Conference dates:

Microsoft Build -- May 19-20 (online event)

DockerCon -- May 28 (online event)

DeveloperWeek Global -- June 16-17 (online event)

Open Source Summit North America -- June 29-July 2 (online event)

Oracle OpenWorld and Oracle CodeOne -- Sept. 21-24 (online event)

Microsoft Ignite -- September (online event)

ApacheCon @Home -- Sept. 29-Oct. 1 (online event)

GlueCon -- Postponed until 2021

API World -- Oct. 27-29 (online event)

GopherCon -- Nov. 9-13 (online event, dates tentative)

Don't see a software developer conference on the list? Email your suggestion to [email protected].

2020 software development and architecture conferences

Microsoft Build -- May 19-20: Microsoft Build is a developer-focused conference that covers tooling and language innovations, cloud development, containers, machine learning, DevOps automation, low code and -- of course -- tutorials on building Office 365 extensions.

Microsoft Build 2020 is a free, online event. Attendees will have access to keynote presentations as well as development tutorials and workshops (including some streamed via Twitch).

DockerCon -- May 28: DockerCon focuses on container platforms and management systems. It features keynotes, workshops and hands-on labs for developers building modern applications via containers. New and experienced container users will find educational content here.

The event, planned originally to take up three days, is now a free, one-day digital event on May 28 from noon to 8 p.m. EST.

DeveloperWeek Global -- June 16-17: DeveloperWeek Global 2020 is a developer and software engineering conference featuring keynote and technical sessions, developer pitch contests and awards, digital technology and software exhibitions and a virtual hackathon.

DeveloperWeek Global is an all-digital event, with both free and paid options that allow different levels of access and involvement in the scheduled online events. See the site for more details on pricing tiers.

Open Source Summit North America (OSS NA) -- June 29-July 2: Open Source Summit North America is a conference for software developers and architects interested in learning more about the open source community, covering topics such as Linux security, open source cloud platforms and trends in enterprise-level open source programming. Featured keynote speakers include Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux and Git; Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation; and Kohsuke Kawaguchi, creator of Jenkins.

OSS NA is an all-digital event. Registration costs $50, with discounts available for Linux Foundation members and nonprofit workers.

Oracle OpenWorld and Oracle CodeOne -- Sept. 21-24: Though they are billed as separate conferences, Oracle OpenWorld and Oracle CodeOne will occur at the same time.

Oracle OpenWorld is an annual technology convention with a broad agenda designed for business decision-makers, IT management and line-of-business end users. Developers and architects specifically can find many tracks covering cloud-native app development and deploying microservice applications.

Oracle CodeOne, on the other hand, is a free event designed specifically for developers to explore technologies, practices and trends. Sessions are often geared toward intelligent, cloud-native app development, but also cover emerging areas like IoT and artificial intelligence.

Due to concerns over COVID-19, Oracle will no longer host these conferences in-person at the Caesars Forum Conference Center in Las Vegas. Instead, they will be replaced with a series of free virtual events (details still to be announced).

Microsoft Ignite -- September: Microsoft Ignite is a conference for developers and other IT professionals who use Microsoft tools. This conference looks at innovative ways to build, migrate and manage enterprise software infrastructures, and allows attendees to connect with Microsoft experts from around the globe.

Microsoft Ignite will be a free digital event experience hosted through the month of September.

ApacheCon @Home -- Sept. 29-Oct. 1: ApacheCon, as the name suggests, is run by the Apache Software Foundation and focuses on the Apache open source community and related technologies. Specific technologies addressed during the conference include Hadoop, Cassandra, Spark, Mesos, CloudStack and Solr.

In place of the original New Orleans conference, ApacheCon @Home will be hosted as a three-day virtual event.

GlueCon -- Oct. 20-21: GlueCon's topics change each year, but the conference often shines a light on APIs, DevOps, serverless, containers, microservices and blockchain-driven applications for developers and architects. This year, its agenda also features sessions on specific languages, protocols and tools, such as Rust, graphQL, gRPC, Helm, Envoy, Consul and Fluentd.

The 2020 GlueCon conference has been postponed until 2021 due to COVID-19 concerns.

API World -- Oct. 27-29: API World is a conference and expo that centers on the API economy. It's a vendor-neutral event designed to help developers -- from those at startups to large-scale enterprises -- who are tasked with managing their company's API portfolio. This year's featured session tracks include API lifecycle management; emerging API protocols such as gRPC, Apache Kafka and GraphQL; and the growing use of APIs in IoT, AI and blockchain.

Originally planned to take place in San Jose, CA, API World will now be hosted as a virtual conference and expo.

GopherCon -- Nov. 9-13 (tentative): GopherCon is an annual conference designed to provide education and tutorials for the Go programming language. In addition to the conference's general sessions, attendees can also purchase tickets for both half-day and full-day language workshops centered around Go.

The event will no longer take place at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort in Orlando, as originally planned. Organizers have tentatively planned to hold GopherCon as a virtual conference, including both workshops and presentations, from November 9th to the 13th. Check back regularly for any date changes.