The year must have been 2009. I was speaking at the Norwegian Developers Conference in Oslo. (Ah, Oslo in June!) The event was held in a huge sports arena. The conference organizers divided the bleachers into sections, built stages in front of them, and draped them with thick black cloth in order to create eight different session “rooms.” I remember I was just about finished with my talk, which was about TDD, or SOLID, or astronomy, or something, when suddenly, from the stage next to me, came this loud and raucous singing and guitar playing.
The drapes were such that I was able to peer around them and see the fellow on the stage next to mine, who was making all the noise. Of course, it was Roy Osherove.
Now, those of you who know me know that breaking into song in the middle of a technical talk about software is something that I might just do, if the mood struck me. So as I turned back to my audience, I thought to myself that this Osherove fellow was a kindred spirit, and I’d have to get to know him better.
And getting to know him better is just what I did. In fact, he made a significant contribution to my most recent book, The Clean Coder, and spent three days with me co-teaching a TDD class. My experiences with Roy have all been very positive, and I hope there are many more.