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Dev2Next 2026

Fundamentals of Software Engineering in the Age of AI

•9:00 AM MDT
8 hours
Denver Marriott South at Park Meadows, Lone Tree
10345 Park Meadows Drive, Lone Tree, CO 80124 (Lonetree room)
Register for Workshop

About This Workshop

Agentic coding assistants and AI chat in your editor are changing how we build software. Some say it's the end of software engineering. Is it time to explore other careers? Not so fast. The rumors of our demise are greatly exaggerated! These tools can boost productivity. But to use them well, developers still need to master the fundamentals of the craft.

This intensive workshop bridges the gap between what developers learn in school and what they need on a professional team. On that team, people and AI tools now work side by side. It's based on our book, Fundamentals of Software Engineering. We'll guide you from programmer to well-rounded software engineer. You'll learn to get the most from AI tools without losing the fundamentals.

You'll build technical and professional skills that last, no matter how languages, frameworks and AI tools change. The day is a balanced mix of teaching, discussion and hands-on labs. You'll work on realistic scenarios with both traditional and AI-assisted approaches. Along the way, you'll learn when to bring AI into your workflow, and when not to.

What You'll Learn

  • Why the fundamentals matter more now, not less. The fundamentals didn't change. The ratio did.

  • How to read unfamiliar code before you prompt an agent to change it

  • How to review AI-generated code and spot what agents get wrong

  • How to use specs and tests as the gates for agent work

  • How to work safely with existing code, with a net of tests in place first

  • How to learn new things with AI without skipping the reps

  • How to turn your fundamentals into your agent's instructions, in your own AGENTS.md

Prerequisites

To get the most out of this workshop, please bring:

  • Working knowledge of at least one programming language. The labs use Java and Spring PetClinic.

  • A laptop with Git, Java 17 or newer, and an IDE or code editor

  • Optional: An AI coding assistant (Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Codex or similar). No assistant? You can pair up with someone who has one.

  • Optional: Docker, to run PetClinic's full test suite

  • Optional: A Google account for the NotebookLM lab

Labs

The day is built around six hands-on labs. They all use one codebase, Spring PetClinic. Each lab works the same way. Do it yourself first. Then do it with your agent. Then compare and judge.

Workshop Repository

https://github.com/Fundamentals-of-Software-Engineering/workshop

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/Fundamentals-of-Software-Engineering/workshop.git

Lab 1. Read before you prompt

25 minutes

Find your way around Spring PetClinic on your own first. Then ask your agent for a tour and check its answers against what you found.

Open the lab

Lab 2. Defuse the grenade

25 minutes

An AI agent opened a pull request. It compiles and every test passes. Review it with your team and find the problems before it merges.

Open the lab

Lab 3. Spec it before you prompt

20 minutes

Build the same small feature twice. Once from a one-line prompt, once from a short spec. Then compare what you get.

Open the lab

Lab 4. Net before refactor

20 minutes

Write tests that pin down what the code does today. Then let your agent refactor it, with your tests as the safety net.

Open the lab

Lab 5. Learn it, don't ship it

20 minutes

Use your agent as a tutor, not an author, to learn something new. Then check what stuck with a short quiz.

Open the lab

Lab 6. Capstone: your AGENTS.md

20 minutes

Each lab adds a few lines to your own AGENTS.md. Pull them together into one file and take it home to your team.

Open the lab

Optional Extras

Try these if you finish early, or take them home after the workshop.

Research a role with NotebookLM

15 minutes

Gather job posts and career guides for a role you want. Use NotebookLM to find the skills that keep showing up.

Open the lab

Your personal tech radar

10 minutes

Sort the tools you care about into adopt, trial, assess and hold. Use it to decide what to learn next.

Open the lab

Resources

Here are some helpful resources to prepare for the workshop and keep learning afterward:

Fundamentals of Software Engineering on O'Reilly

Fundamentals of Software Engineering on Amazon

Fundamentals of Software Engineering GitHub Organization

Workshop Slides

The slides will be posted here after the workshop.

Ready to Level Up Your Skills?

Join us for this hands-on workshop. Learn how to apply software engineering fundamentals in the age of AI.

Register Now