PUG Challenge 2026 - Amsterdam

The PUG Challenge 2026 Amsterdam will take place November 4th - 6th, 2026 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

About this event

PUG Challenge 2026 is coming to Amsterdam – and Consultingwerk will be there. From November 4–6, 2026, the European OpenEdge community will come together for three days of technical sessions, knowledge sharing, and conversations around the latest developments in the Progress ecosystem.

As a Global Gold Sponsor, we’re delighted to support PUG Challenge once again and to contribute to the conference with expertise from across our team.

This year, Mike Fechner, Peter Judge, and Sebastian Wandel will take the stage for Consultingwerk. Their sessions cover a broad range of topics – from AI-powered application modernization and REST API design to PASOE, .NET, generics, and practical ABL development.

Consultingwerk’s Sessions

Mike Fechner

Say Bye-Bye to the IDE. Here Comes Claude Code.

Wednesday, November 4 | 4:15 PM – 5:15 PM | New York 3

What happens when a lifelong IDE user decides to leave the IDE behind?

Mike shares his journey from AppBuilder and PDSOE through VS Code and Windsurf to making Claude Code his everyday development companion – and the dramatic productivity gains that came with it.

AI-Powered OpenEdge Modernization: Faster, Smarter, Scalable

Thursday, November 5 | 11:45 AM – 12:45 PM | Istanbul

How can you modernize business-critical OpenEdge applications faster while protecting your existing investment?

Mike demonstrates how Consultingwerk’s SmartComponent Library, combined with AI-powered developer tools and the SmartFramework MCP Server, can dramatically accelerate the transformation of OpenEdge GUI and TTY applications into modern, scalable web applications.

Peter Judge

.NET on Linux. Why bother?

Wednesday, November 4 | 2:45 PM – 3:45 PM | New York 3

ABL gets the job done – but sometimes there’s a faster or simpler way. Peter explores where using .NET from Linux-based OpenEdge makes practical sense, with examples ranging from file handling and process execution to security libraries.

What are user-defined generic types and why should I use them?

Thursday, November 5 | 10:15 AM – 11:15 AM | New York 3

Generics are coming to ABL. Peter explains what user-defined generic types are, where they fit, and how they can help developers create cleaner, more reusable code with fewer compromises.

Managing secrets in OE configurations

Friday, November 6 | 1:45 PM – 2:45 PM | New York 3

With OECH1 encoding gone in OpenEdge 12.8.11, it’s time to rethink how secrets are handled. Peter covers practical approaches to storing and managing passwords, API keys, and other sensitive values in OpenEdge configurations.

Sebastian Wandel

Regular Expressions for ABL Developers

Friday, November 6 | 10:15 AM – 11:15 AM | New York 2

Regular expressions may look cryptic at first, but they can become a powerful everyday tool for ABL developers.

Sebastian demonstrates practical uses for Regular Expressions – from searching code and validating user input to processing text and performing bulk code refactoring – and shows how to use them effectively in your OpenEdge development workflow.

Meet Consultingwerk in Amsterdam

PUG Challenge is also a great opportunity to meet in person. Our team will be on-site throughout the conference and ready to exchange ideas, answer questions, and hear what’s keeping you busy in your OpenEdge projects.

Whether you want to discuss application modernization, OpenEdge architecture, AI-assisted development, or simply catch up with the Consultingwerk team, come and find us in Amsterdam.

We look forward to seeing you there!