Best JavaScript Conferences 2020

Today you are either a programmer or hear about development every day. Even the oldest generation will no longer be able to avoid these conversations. After all, much is said about this on the Internet and on TV. You also may not be a developer, but you definitely have at least one such friend or acquaintance.

But if you are a front-end or back-end specialist, then the code lives inside you. Most likely, your head is filled with questions about improving testing, rising performance, fixing any bugs and so on. This is a problem for every developer. Even if you are involved with JavaScript, which today is considered the best programming language.

You always have a few options. The first is to figure it out all alone. But no one does. The second is to find tips and answers on thematic forums. The third is to attend several JavaSript conferences and discuss all issues with colleagues live, and ideally, apply new skills immediately.

It is difficult to deny that the latter option will be more effective. Therefore, it remains only to choose a conference. A list of the best JavaScript events of 2020 can be found below. Mark the dates on the calendar!

JSFest

Site: JS Fest

Place: Kiev, Ukraine

Date: 30-31 October, 2020

Cost: $260-290

JS Fest is the largest JavaScript conference in Ukraine and one of the largest conferences in Eastern Europe. It covers all aspects of development with JS, from deployment to product launch. Over the 6 years of the existence of the conference, more than 10 thousand participants attended it, and almost 500 lectures and 580 hours of content were held.

Key topics:

• work with frameworks;
• code optimization and testing;
• problematic issues of application architecture;
• backend development with JavaScript tools.

JS Fest is gaining popularity not only due to the topic, but also thanks to professional speakers. So, in 2020, Vitaly Fridman (co-founder of Smashing Magazine), Victor Tursky (CEO WebbyLab), Ben Lichtman (Software Engineer Microsoft), Steen Lau (CEO Lau Engineering) and other specialists from 10 different countries will share their insights.

OpenJS World

Site: OpenJS World

Place: Austin, Texas, USA

Date: 23-24 June, 2020

Cost: $350-900

The Open JS Foundation makes a big contribution to the development of JavaScript developers. In particular, this manifests itself in organizing a large-scale OpenJS World conference for several consecutive times. At it, companies present their new projects and applications. Developers can find like-minded people and parse the latest changes in frameworks and libraries. And beginners will be able to understand how to determine the direction.

Key topics:

• JS architectures and templates;
• code diagnostics;
• new ways to use JavaScript tools;
• security;
• DevOps for JS engineers;
• JS and serverless technologies;
• test patterns.

The list of OpenJS World speakers will be available at the end of March. Therefore, if you want to know about the conference speakers - stay tuned. But, based on last year’s events, it can be argued that only professionals will be among the speakers.

JS Kongress

Site: JS Kongress

Place: Munich, Bavaria

Date: 15-16 April, 2020

Cost: €430

JS Kongress is another major annual JavaScript conference. Organizers do not immediately grasp the entire programming language: every year they focus on a specific issue. So, in 2020, the focus was on JS scaling - working with massive platforms, data-driven architectures and modern APIs.

Key topics:

• design templates that need to be added to JS;
• development of scalable microservices;
• scaling dynamic test environment with Kubernetes and Helm;
• creating the largest eCommerce PWA with Vue.js.

All these things will be told to you by industry experts from the best world brands. So, among the speakers you can see Aisha Absiya (founder of Hayaan Tech), Franziska Hinkelmann (senior engineer at Google), Rekuil Kampf (full-stack team leader at Walkme), Nadia Makarevich (senior developer at Atlassian) and others.

International JavaScript Conference

Site: International JavaScript Conference

Place: London, Great Britain

Date: 20-22 April, 2020

Cost: £539-1099

Developing a web interface? Or maybe mobile applications? Or is it your duty to create a PWA? Whatever your area of responsibility and whatever tools you use in your work, any issue will be covered at this conference. Angular, React, Vue, NativeScript, Electorn, and many other frameworks and libraries will be discussed in separate sessions or round tables.

Key topics:

• JavaScript best practices;
• providing offline work for web applications;
• workflow automation with Angular Schematics;
• creation of PWA for any platform;
• the future of application architecture.

The International JavaScript Conference is 3 days of content at 40 sessions, ongoing workshops, and over 40 speakers, including Anna Sidre (Developer Advocate at Auth0), Delvin Duldulao (Microsoft MVP, Ambassador Auth0), Sherry List (Developer Relations Lead at Microsoft) and others.

JSHeroes

Site: JS Heroes

Place: Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Date: 23-24 April, 2020

Cost: €169-253

Despite the fact that the conference is being held in the small province of Cluj-Napoca in Romania, JS Heroes is one of the largest in all of Europe. Each year, its organizers determine several topics that they want to highlight. As a rule, they are closely related to the most problematic issues of the past year. So, the key themes of 2020 will be:

• past and future of the JavaScript ecosystem;
• difficulties in daily activities;
• the impact of technology on new developments.

The peculiarity of this conference is that it does not focus on particular frameworks and libraries. Why? Because most of them have their own specialized events.

Among the speakers of JS Heroes 2020 you can find: Peggy Riseis (Developer Experience at Apollo), Christian Nwamba (Senior Cloud Developer Advocate at Microsoft), Unu Kravets (Developer Advocate at Google), Cathy Saylor-Miller (front-end architect at Etsy) and other.

JSDay

Site: JS Day

Place: Verona, Italy

Date: 10-11 September, 2020

Cost: €149-369

One day does not mean much. This means briefly and in fact. This is how the organizers position their conference. JS Day is a series of conferences from the Grusp team, which has been held since 2011. During this time, one of the best formats was found, and in addition, the best audience was formed. By visiting JS Day, you can quickly learn about the key changes in working with the programming language and the very next day you will put the theory into practice.

Key topics:

• JS development trends;
• code debugging problems;
• quick testing;
• the right choice of tools for different applications.

Among the speakers of JS Day 2020 you can see Sharon Zitzman (Head of Developer Relations in AppsFlyer), Massimiliano Mantione (Software Engineer in hearts), Alessandro Cinelli (DX Engineering Manager in DAZN) and others.

JSNation

Site: JS Nation

Place: Amsterdam, Holland

Date: 3-5 June, 2020

Cost: €40-710

The conference brings together the best authors of JavaScript libraries, a team of world leaders, as well as simple developers in one place. Organizers spotlight development with JavaScript as an art. Therefore, the conference offers not only a discussion of technological issues, but also an art exhibition dedicated to JS. But of course, the main emphasis is placed precisely on the transfer of experience in the framework of JavaScript.

Key topics:

• instructions for working with Vue.js;
• unlocking new features of Node.js;
• decentralization of data with JS;
• PWA - hidden stories about the future;
• new Angular.

Listing the benefits of JS Nation can take a very long time. Participants from previous events are talking about them everywhere. One of the advantages is clearly selected speakers. So, in 2020, JavaScript development issues will be covered by: Sarah Drazner (Head of Developer Experience at Netlify), Matteo Collina (CTO at NearForm), Mr. Doob (author of Three.js), Tobias Koppers (creator of webpack), Camille Mishlevich (creator NestJS) and many others.

JS Camp

Site: JS Camp

Place: Barcelona, Spain

Date: 16-17 July, 2020

Cost: €300-390

What is JS Camp? These are over 1200 developers from 55 countries. These are presentations in the format of presentations and interviews. These are effective workshops and networking. JS Camp is an opportunity to open up even more boundaries for working with JavaScript. If you want to deal with some kind of problem or don’t understand all the advantages and disadvantages of a particular framework, then this is for you. Experts from all over the world will gather here to discuss all the intricacies of working with JavaScript in a relaxed atmosphere.

The list of speakers and key topics is being determined. If the conference interests you, then stay tuned for updates on the site and on Twitter. Soon the event details will be published.

HolyJS

Site: HolyJS

Place: Saint-Petersburg, Russia

Date: June, 2020 (the exact date will be determined later)

Cost: €150-610

Holy JS 2020 is the 9th JavaScript conference hosted by the Jug Ru Group. More than 1,000 developers will gather to discuss the present and future of the JavaScript community with world-leading experts. This conference will provide you with dozens of various front-end and back-end reports.

Key topics:

• hidden potential of voice data;
• cross-browser automation;
• architecture of complex applications on NestJS;
• the growing popularity of Vue.js.

The main task of the organizers of any conference is to provide quality content. This is achieved thanks to good speakers. Jug Ru Group understand this, because year after year they invite the best experts for reports. This year you can see presentations and insights by Charlie Gerard (senior front-end developer at Netlify), Damian Dulish (front-end lead at Coursedog), Natalya Teplukhina (senior front-end engineer at Gitlab) and many others.

Smashing Conference

Site: Smashing Conference

Place: San Francisco, California, USA

Date: 10-11 November, 2020

Cost: $700-1500

Smashing Conference is a series of conferences that has gained immense popularity over 3 years. So, in addition to San Francisco, it is also held in Toronto, Freiburg and New York. The event is filled with conversations and practical exercises on developing the interface and UX. This year, the organizers promise a lot of material about the development of productivity, accessibility and security of applications, as well as fancy methods of working with CSS / JS.

Key topics:

• better communication - better design;
• tricks to create an affordable front end;
• the user does not care about the code - he cares about speed and appearance;
• machine learning and javascript.

Among the speakers at the Smashing Conference 2020, you will see such experts as Chris Coyier (creator of CSS-Tricks, co-founder of CodeOen), Whitney Homans (senior design manager at Mailchimp), Aaron Walter (vice president of design education at InVision) and many other.