PUG Challenge 2026 – Presentation Slides Now Available! PUG Challenge 2026
Consultingwerk at PUG Challenge 2026 – Providence & Amsterdam
6 min read
PUG Challenge is always one of the highlights of our year – a time when we meet the global OpenEdge community, exchange ideas, and present our latest innovations. As every year, we were at both conferences: PUG Challenge Providence in October and PUG Challenge Amsterdam in November, both as Global Gold Sponsor.
We have been part of PUG Challenge since the very first European conference in Cologne in 2010, and this year’s Amsterdam event marked the 15th edition of PUG Challenge EMEA. Fifteen editions of sessions, new ideas, and lasting friendships – we are grateful to be part of this community.
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Four Days in Providence
The conference season started at the Renaissance Providence Downtown Hotel in Rhode Island. The Welcome Reception on the first evening set the tone perfectly: familiar faces, new faces, and plenty of catching up before the first full conference day.
Mike Fechner opened with his presentations "Say Bye-Bye to the IDE. Here Comes Claude Code." and AI-powered OpenEdge modernization, and returned the next day with REST API versioning and a look at the many things a coding assistant can do beyond generating source code – from .NET designs and AppBuilder applications to log analysis and Swagger files.
Our booth was the place to meet the team, see live demos, and talk about modernization, AI-assisted development, and the SmartComponent Library. And of course, our iconic ducks crossed the Atlantic once again to say hello.
Three Days at Gate C42 in Amsterdam
A month later, the EMEA OpenEdge community came together at the Van der Valk Hotel Schiphol under this year's theme, "Connecting the World". Just a few minutes from the airport, our booth became Gate C42 – our connection to the OpenEdge world, bringing people, ideas, and technologies together. The team was ready for takeoff, and CWerky, our rubber duck mascot and self-appointed gate agent, had found the perfect spot.
There was plenty to discover at Gate C42: visitors took a seat for live demos and conversations about OpenEdge, modernization, and AI, guessed how many ducks were on board, grabbed some candy, and picked up the 15th edition of our Keep Calm T-Shirt.
And the answer is … 2,400 ducks were on board! Congratulations to Sarah Gillespie (Henderson Group) and Paul Koufalis (White Star Software), who both nailed it to the very last duck.
Three of us shared our latest insights and experiences: Mike Fechner, Peter Judge, and Sebastian Wandel presented eight sessions – from AI-powered modernization and Claude Code to .NET on Linux, generics in ABL, secrets management, and regular expressions.
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A Little Taste of Cologne
After the first conference day, we welcomed everyone to the Sponsors' Reception with Kölsch straight from our hometown. It was an evening full of familiar faces, new connections, and lots of laughter – a little bit of Cologne in the middle of Amsterdam.
Consultingwerk Fussball Challenge 2026
On the second evening, the "Connecting the World" event brought games, a silent disco, delicious food, and our Consultingwerk Fussball Challenge 2026. The table football matches were full of team spirit and friendly competition. Congratulations to Team France, champions once again just like last year, and to Team Belgium for a strong second place. Thank you to every player – we hope you had as much fun as we did.
Our Conference Sessions (Providence & Amsterdam – Combined)
We presented a comprehensive set of sessions on AI-assisted development, modernAIzation, REST APIs, and modern ABL across both PUG Challenge events – delivered by Mike Fechner, Peter Judge, and Sebastian Wandel.
Below each session you'll find where it was presented and a link to download the slides as PDF.
Mike Fechner
Lead Modernization Architect
Say Bye-Bye to the IDE. Here Comes Claude Code.
Presented in Providence & Amsterdam
Mike's journey from AppBuilder and PDSOE through VS Code and Windsurf to Claude Code as his everyday development companion – including compiling, unit testing, profiling, CLAUDE.md, rule files, skills, and MCP servers.
Say Bye-Bye to the IDE. Here Comes Claude CodeAI-Powered OpenEdge Modernization: Faster, Smarter, Scalable
Presented in Providence & Amsterdam
How the SmartComponent Library, AI developer tools such as Claude Code, Devin, and GitHub Copilot, and the SmartFramework MCP Server accelerate the transformation of OpenEdge GUI and TTY applications into modern web applications.REST API Versioning: Concepts and Samples
Presented in Providence & Amsterdam
URL-based versioning, media types, and their trade-offs – with sample implementations based on PASOE WebHandlers.
Cool Things Your Coding Assistant Can Do For You
Presented in Providence & Amsterdam
An AI-first approach across the OpenEdge workflow: .NET designs, AppBuilder applications, log file analysis, replacing proxygen workflows, Swagger files, image manipulation, and much more.
Peter Judge
Senior Architect
.NET on Linux. Why bother?
Presented in Amsterdam
Where using .NET from Linux-based OpenEdge makes practical sense – from file handling and process execution to security libraries.What are user-defined generic types and why should I use them?
Presented in Amsterdam
Generics are coming to ABL: what user-defined generic types are, where they fit, and how they lead to cleaner, more reusable code.Managing secrets in OE configurations
Presented in Amsterdam
With OECH1 encoding gone in OpenEdge 12.8.11: practical approaches to storing and managing passwords, API keys, and other sensitive values.
Sebastian Wandel
Software Developer
Regular Expressions for ABL Developers
Presented in Amsterdam
The regex syntax you need day to day, search and replace in VS Code and PDSOE, and the .NET Regex class in ABL code.
Meaningful Conversations & Community Spirit
Many of the best moments at PUG Challenge happen away from the stage – at the booth, in the hallway, over a Kölsch, or at the football table.
Across both conferences, we talked about modernAIzation, AI coding assistants in everyday ABL development, MCP servers, REST APIs, and OpenEdge architecture. These conversations continue to shape how our tools and frameworks evolve, and they remind us every year what makes this community special: curiosity, openness, and a real willingness to share knowledge.
Thank You, Providence & Amsterdam
We want to thank:
- The organizers of both PUG Challenge events
- Everyone who attended our sessions
- Everyone who stopped by our booth and Gate C42
- All guests at the Sponsors' Reception
- All players of the Consultingwerk Fussball Challenge 2026
- Our fellow sponsors and speakers
You made both events truly memorable.
What's Next?
If you'd like guidance on modernization, AI-assisted development, PASOE, REST APIs, the SmartComponent Library, or architecture planning – we're always happy to help. Get in touch.
Missed our modernization session? Our webinar AI-Powered Modernization of OpenEdge Applications with the SmartComponent Library is available on demand.
And while the suitcases are barely unpacked, we are already looking forward to PUG Challenge 2027 in Antwerp. New city, same great community – we can't wait to see you there!
The Consultingwerk Team