Accidental Technologist

Musings about Entrepreneurship, Technology and Software Development

11 Ruby on Rails Podcasts Worth Your Time

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Ruby on Rails

There is great value in the Ruby on Rails podcasts and screencasts we have available today. Some podcasts have gone away while others have appeared, and others have changed hosts. The title is a bit deceiving, I’m including some screencasts too.

I wrote up a list of Rails learning resources last week, which included some screencasts. I list those here to keep the resource consistent for folks finding this in the future.

Podcasts

I have far too many podcasts in the Overcast app on my iPhone, but these always get listened to first.

Remote Ruby – three developers, chat about Ruby on Rails, what they’re up to, and the community at large. Occasional guests.

Ruby on Rails Podcast – this podcast has been around a long time and has seen a few hosts. Episodes consist mainly of interviews with people in the industry or who use Rails for their jobs. I do really like the guests and topics, many are the cutting edge of what we are being exposed to in work today.

Ruby Rogues – a long time show featuring a panel of known people from the Rails community who discuss various topics with guests. Episodes are mainly a single timely topic the panel and guest discuss. Approaching 500 episodes.

Rails with Jason – interview-style show with Jason Sweet. Jason has some great guests on his show. If you can listen to only one, I’d try this one. If you can’t get enough of Jason, he has written some great articles.

Maintainable – hosted by Robby Russell, long-time Rails developer and founder of Planet Argon, a Rails development agency. From the Maintainable site:

On Maintainable, we speak with seasoned practitioners who have worked past the problems often associated with technical debt and legacy code. In each episode, our guests will share stories and outline tangible, real-world approaches to software challenges

Running in Production – a podcast about how folks are running various frameworks in a production environment and what it takes to do so. Not strictly talking about Rails, but there are a handful of episodes specifically dealing with challenges of running Rails in production.

The Bike Shed – discussion podcast, with two people from Thoughtbot. Much of the discussion encompasses issues the hosts face while working at the company. The episodes aren’t strictly Rails but cover topics many of us face in our day-to-day development work.

Screencasts

Drifting Ruby – created by Dave Kimura, also a long-time Rails developer. Dave is currently up to 227 episodes with episodes running from ~10 min to ~30 min. You might think these screencasts are probably like those from Go Rails, hardly. I think they complement each other very well. Even for topics, they are the same. I find the approaches very different. There are also free episodes, while others require a small monthly fee.

Go Rails – created by Chris Oliver, who is a great contributor to the community. At the time of this writing, Chris is up to 330 videos of varying lengths (~5 min to ~30 min) covering a full breadth of topics, including everything from Rails concepts to the inevitable problem you’ll face when creating Rails applications. There is also a forum that accompanies the videos were you can ask questions or answer some if you so choose. There are some free videos and a Pro plan you can pay to get the rest of the videos for a reasonable monthly fee. It’s a bargain for sure.

RubyTapas – created by Avdi Grimm, a long-time member of the Ruby community. From the RubyTapas website:

RubyTapas is for the busy Ruby or Rails developer who is ready to reach the next level of code mastery. Short, focused screencasts twice a week will introduce you to a wide variety of intermediate to advanced Ruby concepts and techniques, Object-Oriented design principles, testing practices, refactoring skills, and much more.

RailsCasts – created by Ryan Bates, these short screencasts were the original for the Ruby community focusing on Ruby on Rails. Ryan stepped away from making these a while ago, but many are still relevant today and free.

There’s so much great content in these resources. Whether you like to listen to podcasts or prefer to watch people code in a screencast, there’s plenty to learn. If you find other Ruby and Rails related podcasts, I’d love to know about them.

Podcasters Please Stop Wasting My Time

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I listen to many podcasts. I have some I’ve followed for years. I have some I add to my favorite podcast app on my iPhone, hear a couple of episodes, and remove.

The number one reason I unsubscribe; the hosts are wasting my time. I don’t have much time each day for podcasts, and when I turn them on, I would like to get right to the details.

I don’t want to list those that I have problems with because I don’t want to call anyone out. Those that waste time know who they are.

Examples of wasting my time:

  • Casual banter. Carrying on about the trip you took or the co-working space you visited adds no value. It’s not the reason I am listening to your podcast. Get to the point.
  • Complaining – many do it, complaining about something unrelated to the topic isn’t adding value to the show.
  • Personal discussions are unrelated to the topic I tuned into in the first place.
  • Your world philosophy – podcasts tend to be a soapbox for some folks, it’s really not the place.

Examples of who does it right:

I don’t know why so many podcasters do this. I can only imagine they think they need to fill more time in the show. I’d rather have a short show on-topic than a longer show with talk. I believe shows that run 60 minutes could easily shorten to 30-40 with being on topic

Maybe they think we are interested in their personal stories. Sorry, but I’m not.

Podcasters, value the time of the listener. Address the topic with spot-on discussions and remove the filler. No fluff, just stuff.

Tell Me My Value Up Front

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The hiring process is broken. I hear of people who are looking for work, either as a full-time employee or a contractor, go through an extensive interview process, and if they are lucky enough to be offered a role, they cannot afford the salary.

I’d like to see all companies looking to hire people to post the opening and have full-disclosure on the amount of money the candidate will receive if offered the job. I do see some companies offer a range but far too few do this. I think recruiters behave because they are reluctant to share too much information and lose a possible hire.

Imagine going through the hiring process companies many companies use today; 3-5 weeks of multiple rounds of interviews, coding sessions, and onsite visits to learn the money offered was too low. It would be draining.

When I talk to companies about possible projects, I get it the money topic out right away. This way, often the deciding factor, is out in the open.

You might not need jQuery

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This is a really nice resource for those moving from jQuery to JavaScript ES6. I like the 1:1 comparisons.

jQuery and its cousins are great, and by all means use them if it makes it easier to develop your application.

If you’re developing a library on the other hand, please take a moment to consider if you actually need jQuery as a dependency. Maybe you can include a few lines of utility code, and forgo the requirement. If you’re only targeting more modern browsers, you might not need anything more than what the browser ships with.

 

10 Ruby on Rails Learning Resources for 2020

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Even though Ruby on Rails has been around since 2004 as an open source project, I still get asked the best ways to learn the framework today.

It’s a fair question and answers do change as the Ruby on Rails landscape has evolved.

Beginner Level

You have little to no Ruby on Rails knowledge and are looking for resources to get you started out right.

  1. The Ruby on Rails Tutorial by Michael Hartl – now in it’s 6th edition and keeping up with Rails 6. This book and video options (20 hours) help many Rails developers get started. It’s written my Michael Hartl and comes in at 883 pages. It is a well-written tutorial.
  2. Ruby on Rails Guides – when talking about getting information from the source, this is the one to use. Each section contains the documentation on all the major parts of the Ruby on Rails framework broken up by function. A nice feature is users can select the version they are using, starting with the latest as of this writing, 6.0.2.1 all the way back to 2.3.
  3. Agile Web Development with Rails 6 – the Rails 6 version of the book which has gotten many Rails developers started, including myself. The Pragmatic Bookshelf offers a version back to Rails 4 so make sure you reference the correct version. This version will help with coming up to speed on the new Action Mailbox and Action Text. It offers source code for the project, which is a nice eCommerce application with practical value.
  4. Agile Web Development with Rails 5.1 – this version of the book is, you guessed it, targeting Rails 5.1. It contains the latest updates for 5.1 and offers source code for the project, which is a nice eCommerce application with practical value.

Intermediate Level

You’ve built a couple applications, know the beginner material and have a couple years of Rails experience. You are ready to move on to hone your skills.

One of the-best ways to learn, for me and I’m sure others, is by watching screencasts. The next two resources are they best out there.

  1. Go Rails Screencasts – created by Chris Oliver who is a great contributor to the community. At the time of this writing Chris is up to 330 videos of varying length (~5 min to ~30 min) covering a wide breath of topics, including everything from Rails concepts to the inevitable problem you’ll face when creating Rails applications. There is also a forum that accompanies the videos were you can ask questions or answer some if you so choose. There are some free videos and a Pro plan you can pay for to get the rest of the videos for a reasonable monthly fee. It’s a bargain for sure.
  2. Drifting Ruby Screencasts – created by Dave Kimura, also a long-time Rails developer. Dave is currently up to 227 episodes with episodes running from ~10 min to ~30 min. You might think these screencasts are probably like those from Go Rails, hardly. I think they complement each other very well. Even for topics they are the same, I find the approaches very different. There are also free episodes and others are paid for with a small monthly fee.
  3. Modern Front-End Development for Rails – when moving to recent versions of Rails, 5.1+, you have exposure to technologies such as JavaScript with the required tooling. This book takes you there and helps clear up some of the confusion that will certainly arise.

Advanced Level

You feel good about your Ruby on Rails skills and want to press on to even more advanced topics.

  1. Metaprogramming Ruby 2 – if you aren’t sure what metaprogramming is, it’s worth learning about and use it where it makes sense. It’s a technique that’s used in Rails and other Ruby frameworks and applications. It’s powerful. This book is the best resource I’ve found on the subject from just learning it to becoming proficient.
  2. Rails 5 Test Prescriptions – the Rails community is all about Test-Driven Development (TDD) and this book gives great coverage of the subject. It covers RSpec and mintiest. RSpec is probably the most popular testing tool for Rails. Mintiest is the default testing framework.
  3. Docker for Rails Developers – unless you’re living under a rock you have at least heard of Docker. This book is the only source I am aware of that directly helps Rails developers containerize their application. It is a great single source.

If you’re just starting out, a seasoned expert or somewhere in between. I think these are some of the best sources of guidance and knowledge available for our beloved Ruby on Rails.

If you think I forgot something, please leave a comment and let me know.

Computer Science Education in the Past to the Present

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A quick but thought-provoking post from Fred Wilson about CS education in our K12 system.

As many of you know, I have spent a fair bit of my time over the last ten years on increasing the amount of CS Education in our K12 system in NYC and around the US.

My friend Rob sent me this short (2 1/2 min) clip of John von Neumann in the early 50s talking about how important CS Education and in particular K12 CS Education would be.

We largely ignored his advice for the last sixty years but I am optimistic that we are finally heeding it.

This video from the 1950’s shows John von Neumann talking with a young man about his future. This young man is considering being an attorney. Computer Science in those early days was virtually non-existent except in very small circles.

Fast forward to 1983 when I was in High School and was one of about a dozen students who had access to the only TRS-80 (with a cassette drive) in our school system. We were our own CS education. There were no classes to learn to program at that time. It was only a couple years later that the first BASIC programming courses appeared.

Continuing forward to 2018 where my daughter was a senior at the same High School I attended. The computer science program was certainly expanded but I don’t think it had a large focus. I can’t explain why, maybe the administration couldn’t find adequate teachers or probably more accurately, the administration felt there were other priorities.

This High School even has gotten into eSports, where students get credits for playing video games.

I agree that CS education has gotten better, but it needs to get a lot better. K-12 today is the incubation channels for our kids and their future. I think it starts with early education to stimulate the minds of kinds to be creators. Creators with technology and the capabilities of the tech but what is possible for the future. The future they can build, with their minds.

This Wisdom of Joe Armstrong Will Live On

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I found out about the death of Joe Armstrong, the father of Erlang, recently as did the world.

It saddens me that I never had the opportunity to meet him. I did find this very interesting and applicable quote to all developers. We can take guidance.

Spf13 2019 Apr 23

Fixing TextExpander on macOS 10.14

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I use TextExpander from Smile Software every day and rely on it for so many helpful snippets. After upgrading my iMac to macOS Mojave, I realized that TextExpander was broken and nothing I tried worked. It seems TextExpander would no longer expand any snippets. Trying the menu option to “Enable Expansion” did nothing.

I sent a support request to Smile and was really happy to have a response in the matter of an hour. Not surprising, I was not the only one with the issue:

Hi Rob,

Thank you for contacting Smile Support. I’m sorry to hear that you’re having trouble. A few users have reported something similar and these instructions should get it working again:

https://smilesoftware.com/blog/entry/textexpander-macos-10-14-mojave-and-accessibility

After you complete those steps it may also be necessary to click on the TextExpander icon in the menu bar and choose ‘Enable Expansion’. Please let me know if you continue to have trouble.

Maybe this will help someone else with the same problem.

When You Can’t Check a Checkbox using Capybara

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In my last post I documented an issue I was having using Capybara on a client’s Ruby on Rails application with a ReactJS frontend.  I wanted to share another issue I came  across during my feature testing escapades.

The Problem

During my recent feature testing project I had a form which has a checkbox on it. The checkbox had a label with it. Did I mention this is a ReactJS frontend? I’m not sure if this is specific to ReactJS, but I suspect it isn’t. I think other frontend JavaScript frameworks may exhibit the same problem.

The Ruby code for my feature test is dead simple:

check “English”

That’s it. The test should run and when it finds the checkbox with a label of English, the checkbox should be checked. But, it doesn’t work. After many attempts at making this work and more Google searches than I can remember..I ended up at the Capybara mailing list.

The Solution

Thomas Walpole was kind enough to reply with his thoughts on the matter:

99.9% sure your checkbox isn’t actually visible on the screen.

What you’re describing as the “checkbox” is probably an image (probably added via CSS pseudo elements) being shown in place of the actual checkbox input element to ensure the same styling across different browsers.  If the checkbox has a label element correctly attached to it you can use `check(‘whatever’, allow_label_click: true)` – https://www.rubydoc.info/ github/jnicklas/capybara/ Capybara/Node/Actions#check- instance_method –  to tell Capybara to click the label element instead of the hidden checkbox input to toggle state.  If you don’t have an associated label then you’ll need to find whatever element is actually visible on the page and click it instead.

Changing my test to include this for the checkbox, worked perfectly.

check(“English", allow_label_click: true)

I hope someone finds this valuable and will save them some time and hair pulling.

Fixing StaleElementReferenceError When Using Capybara

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I’ve been spending an extended period of time lately writing Feature specs for a Ruby on Rails project using Capybara. Overall it’s been a fun project to work on but I had run into a few issues along the way. One in particular is the StaleElementReferenceError exception that get thrown when you are trying to find an element on your page that you know is there but Selenium can no longer find.

The error appears to be a timing issue between the page loaded in the browser, it being rendered and Capybara and Selenium trying to find the element. After much trial and error, along with many Google searches, I found no solutions that were reasonable. Even though many people had the same problem.

The solution was pretty simple actually. I added a rescue to my test and simply slept for 1 second and retry the failure. I admit, this seems like a hack but it works and that’s all I really cared about at the time. I see no ill effects from this, no measurable delay.

RSpec.feature "Listings", type: :feature, js: true do
  scenario "can edit common area - step 3" do
    begin
      post_a_space_step_1_with
      click_on 'Next'
      post_a_space_step_2_with
      click_on 'Next'
      click_on 'Edit Common Area'
      expect(page).to have_content "Step 1"
    rescue Selenium::WebDriver::Error::StaleElementReferenceError
      sleep 1
      retry
    end
  end
end

I’m certainly open to a better solution or an explanation as to why this might be bad. Please leave comments. Hopefully I help someone get around this really annoying problem.