The other day, on Sunday, a technology conference - DevFest'23 - was held in Ashgabat. Many people were waiting for it: beginners who wanted to learn programming, practicing developers and ordinary people interested in the IT field. The festival featured many topics: writing code using libraries and add-ons, the structure of the Internet, the subtleties of design and the basics of game development... But, first things first.

Early on a Sunday morning in December, work was already in full swing in one of the capital’s schools: volunteers were decorating the stage, placing banners and setting up a photo zone. A little later, the first guests appear, and the hall gradually fills up. Closer to noon, the grand opening begins: the organizers of the Google Developer Group (GDG) in Ashgabat, Saparguly Makhtumov and Myakhrijemal Gylyjova, made an opening speech.

— Today we are glad to see you all at the third annual Developer Festival. This event is our pride: the first DevFest, held in 2021, was attended by less than fifty people. 189 enthusiasts have already taken part in DevFest 2022. However, the current Festival has exceeded all our expectations - 568 participants registered on the official platform! We can say with confidence that for a community that is only three years old, this is an absolute record. We are immensely happy that we were able to achieve such results, and all this is thanks to you, passionate activists, experienced professionals and motivated beginners! We want to say “Thank you!” to each of you! — the organizers addressed the visitors.

Next, the audience was greeted by Askar Aytuov, Google Developer Relations Coordinator, who recorded a special video message:

— The Google development group in Ashgabat is developing rapidly. This is evidenced by the deep interest of members of the IT community in the events held within the framework of the project. It is impossible not to note the opening in September of this year of the first student club of Google developers at the International University of Humanities and Development (GDSC IUHD). All these achievements speak of the enthusiasm of Turkmen developers and the desire to improve their skills and knowledge in the field of technology.

Afterwards, the founder of the first student club of Google developers in Turkmenistan, GDSC IUHD, Byagul Eredzhepova, made a presentation, telling the festival guests about the activities of the club and its importance in the social life of university students.

Well, then - parallel sessions on a variety of topics: writing code, freelancing experience, data analysis and critical thinking - speeches, as they say, “for every taste and color.”

Reading the titles of the sessions, you might think that they are intended only for professionals: “Roadmap to GDE”, “The Art of Prompt Engineering”, “Working with Keras”... It sounds quite intimidating, especially for those who are not in the technology field for a long time. However, after the start of each session it became clear: absolutely everyone was interested.

Take, for example, the session titled “Roadmap to GDE.” To a newcomer to the field of development, it immediately seems that this is a workshop about long and tedious planning for writing code. In fact, this is the story of the first Turkmen Google development expert, in which he shared the experience accumulated on the way to the coveted title.

The same applies to prompt engineering. The word, of course, is unfamiliar to many, and it seems that they study this at university. However, in practice, this was a fascinating workshop, where the speaker explained in detail how to write “good” queries for AI in order to get the desired results.

In general, although the names of the sessions were a little intimidating at first, everyone quickly realized that they wouldn’t be bored.

So, 22 parallel sessions were held in several threads: they talked about design, using Google for startups, success stories, developing games for beginners...

With the end of the sessions, the participants began to discuss the results of the festival and gradually disperse. However, they don’t part for long: many more exciting technology meetings are coming soon!

Saparguly Makhtumov