Continuing its tradition of supporting the local tech community, ThoughtWorks is hosted the first Coded in Braam event of the year on Saturday 28 March.

This hands-on session introduced developers to Spring Boot, a tool based on the Spring IO platform that introduces simpler, faster ways to build hybrid apps.

The session will be led by ThoughtWorks consultant developer Steven Ndaye who specialises in open-source technologies. He has previously taught Technical Programming to Computer Science students at the Tshwane University of Technology and is currently pursuing his post graduate studies.

Coded in Braam is a community of developers numbering more than 550 members, representing the second largest such community in Johannesburg. It is a local initiative of the Tech in Braam collective of technology leaders including ThoughtWorks, Wits University’s Johannesburg Centre for Software Engineering, Microsoft and digital agency Quirk.

Braamfontein has been designated as a technology hub committed to growing software engineering skills and output with the aim of positioning Johannesburg as a leading centre for ICT innovation.

The location was chosen by ThoughtWorks as its South African headquarters given its proximity to higher education institutions such as Wits and the University of Johannesburg and the growing community of fresh young minds in the vicinity.

Coded in Braam was initiated by ThoughtWorks three years ago as a learning and sharing space that has introduced the local developer community to new and emerging coding languages and tools. It attracts beginner and advanced developers who have shown a desire to grow their skills through experimentation and shared learning.

This Coded in Braam session will continue this tradition by introducing participants to the art of building Restful APIs with Spring boot as the underlying framework.

This powerful tool provides a fast way to build applications with one of its key features being automatic configuration of elements needed to deliver the needed functionality. The framework does not require any coding or XML configuration yet provides a range of non-functional features that are common to large classes of projects such as embedded servers, security, metrics, health checks, and externalised configuration.