Rails with Jason

On this episode, Landon Gray and I get together for a conversation that touches on AI consulting, backfilling tests in a system that wasn't developed with TDD, generative AI assisting with testing in data science settings, using AI to develop your product vs using AI in your product, getting clients as an AI consultant, the benefits of remaining a solo contractor over starting an agency, work/life balance as a freelancer, whether charging an hourly rate is the best way to represent the value you provide as a consultant, having a north star to guide your decision making in your work life, what actually comprises risk, how marketing yourself is important regardless of whether you're an employee or a freelancer, how the modern hiring process is broken, value created vs compensation received, and Landon's trip to the AI Engineer World's Fair in San Francisco.The AI Engineer World's FairMadison RubyLandon Gray on LinkedInLandon Gray on Twitter

On today's episode, I sit down with Eric Normand to discuss how to select good customers, the importance of sales and marketing to a freelancer, the importance of imagination, industry, and optimism, the purpose of consulting, how I structure my consulting services, other ideas for consulting structures, domain modeling, tech debt vs dull knives as a metaphor, how product design influences domain modeling, how having a theory of your product impacts domain modeling, the abundance of bad advice for new consultants, and the pros and cons of masterminds.Eric Normand.meEric Normand's NewsletterEric Normand's Clojure GuidesEric Normand's Clojure Video CoursesThe Eric Normand PodcastMillion Dollar Consulting by Alan Weiss99 Bottles of OOP by Sandi MetzEric Normand on LinkedInEric Normand on Twitter

On this episode, I'm joined by Joel Hawksley, Staff Engineer at GitHub for a discussion of code ownership with regards to a 3-year WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) project at GitHub, benevolent dictatorship, collective ownability, terrible code vs acceptable code vs the viability of a project, writing good code vs solving problems, defining quality code, quality code resulting from clear conceptualization, the desirability (or not!) of perfect adherence to standards, reducing defect rate, and meaningful testing goals. Code Complete by Steve McConnellJoel Hawksley at GitHubJoel Hawksley at TwitterHawksley.orgEpisode 88 - ViewComponent with Joel HawksleyLive From Ruby Conf 2021, Joel Hawksley Tells Me About His DrinkEpisode 130 - ViewComponent with Joel Hawksley

On this week's episode, I talk with Allison McMillan to discuss working environments, the importance of getting a remote team together on a regular basis, the benefits of a well thought out offsite, not-so-great offsite types, elements of a worthwhile offsite, and more.Allison McMillan.comAllison McMillan on LinkedInAllison McMillan on Twitter

On this episode, I talk to Matt Kirkland, Founder and Designer at Brand New Box.  We talk about how to get good clients, the utility of reminding people that you exist, reading science fiction, ChatGPT as highly advanced autocomplete, reading history, The limits of ChatGPT-style AI as compared to AGI, and Matt's Dracula read-through newsletter Dracula Daily. Philip K. Dick on GoodreadsFrançois Chollet on Sean Carroll's Mindscape PodcastDracula DailyMatt Kirkland.comBrand New BoxMatt Kirkland on TwitterMatt Kirkland on LinkedIn

On today's episode I talk with Nate Clark, founder and principal software engineer of Brand New Box.  We discuss Brand New Box's early days and what it's like to found an agency, the different ways Nate and I think about acquiring new business,  marketing yourself, how big picture thinking can sharpen your day to day plans, deciding to build a product, the difficulty of finding a problem to solve where it makes financial sense to do so, and how personal relationships beget opportunities.Million Dollar Consulting by Alan WeissTraction by Gino WickmanBrand New BoxNate Clark on LinkedInNate Clark on Twitter

On today's episode, I talk with Alex Bunardzic about TDD (Test Driven Design), separating IO from business logic, configurable dependencies, TCR (Test and Commit or Revert), making many small commits rather than trying to write the whole program right the first time, distributed cognition, order dependency and imperative vs declarative programming, coding speculatively, and coding without shipping.The Agile ManifestoAlex Bunardzic on SubstackSoftware Breakthroughs for the 21st CenturyCoding Interviews with AlexDiary of a Perplexed Software DeveloperAlex Bunardzic on Open SourceAlex Bunardzic on MediumAlex Bunardzic on TwitterAlex Bunardzic on LinkedInNonsense Monthly, my snail mail newsletter

On today's episode, I'm joined by Alan Ridlehoover and Fito von Zastrow for a deep dive on flaky tests.  Code with Jason - Testing Anti Pattern: Merged Setup DataCode with Jason - DuplicationCode with Jason - Why Duplication is More Acceptable in TestsA Brewer's Guide to Filtering out Complexity and ChurnFito von Zastrow on LinkedInFito von Zastrow on TwitterAlan Ridlehoover on LinkedInAlan Ridlehoover on TwitterThe Code GardenerCisco MerakiJobs at Cisco Meraki

Today Rich Steinmetz returns for a discussion that touches on switching between languages, both spoken and programming, structuring tests, getting the most out of reading a book, buying an existing business, struggles with CircleCI and GitHub Actions,  my project SaturnCI, and the need for better APIs.The Beginning of Infinity by David DeutschThe SaaS Playbook by Rob WallingStart Small, Stay Small by Rob WallingAcquire.comFlippa.comRich Steinmetz on TwitterRich Stone.io

On this episode, I talk with Paul Campbell, co-founder and CEO of Tito.  We discuss the origins and early days of Tito, trends in current web design, Parkinson's Law, my project SaturnCI, using LLMs in the coding process, the need to understand universal programming principles rather than superficialities, and the quest for dejankification.We Are Developers World CongressXOXO FestivalThe Beginning of Infinity by David DeutschThe Fabric of Reality by David DeutschTitoIoPaul Campbell on MastodonPaul Campbell on LinkedInPaul@tito.io

In today's episode, I'm joined by Ciaran Lee, founder and Chief Engineer of Intercom for a discussion that touches on the genesis of Intercom and factors that enabled their success, scaling challenges when you're dealing with double-digit growth month to month, load balancers, canary deployment, the benefits of making many small deployments, how a robust testing environment benefits the hiring process, and the benefits of in-person vs remote work.The DevOps Handbook by Gene Kim et al.The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim et al.IntercomCiaran Lee on LinkedInCiaran Lee on Twitter

On today's episode, Matthew Kaliara joins me for a conversation on his work with his startup Rescale Supply.  We also discuss React, ViewComponent, system testing, looks vs usability in design, flat design, the value of convention in design, usability testing, the inseparability of good UI design and good code, the importance of appropriate names in core components, and how good code can help with hiring.Rescale.SupplyMatthew Kaliara on LinkedInMatthew Kaliara on TwitterKaliara.com

It must be both hot dogs and buns, not just the hot dogs themselves. Preparation (e.g. skipping meals beforehand) is allowed.Guests: Peter Cai, Brandon Casci.

On today's episode, Brad Pauly and I dig into the five causes (raised conditions, fixed time dependency, randomness, leaky state, and network or third party dependency) of flaky tests.  We also discuss diagnosing flaky tests, common pitfalls of fixing flaky tests, and things that do work for fixing flaky tests.Brad Pauly on TwitterBrad Pauly on GitHub

On this episode, I talk with Verda Korzeniewski about going into programming straight out of high school.  We also discuss Verda's experience in 3D printing, problems in modern manufacturing, and problem solving skills that transcend programming. Verda Korzeniewski on LinkedInVerda Korzeniewski on Instagram

On today's episode, Trae Robrock joins me for a discussion of his new Rails project Translated and his hotel management software Comfort.ly.  We also talk about managing a hotel, investing in real estate, internationalizing a Rails app, investing in assets that give you income,  investing in your personal brand, marketing Comfort.ly, connecting with potential clients in person, the importance of having a comfortable working environment, reading to enrich yourself, and taking care of your health.Trae Robrock on Twittertrobrock.comTranslatedRB.comGitHub.com/GetComfortlyComfort.ly$100M Leads by Alex Hormozi$100M Offers by Alex HormoziNever Split the Difference by Chris VossA Sense of Style by Steven PinkerCopy That.comModern Software Engineering by David FarleyRefactoring by Martin FowlerFunction HealthGreenbits.comRezStream

On today's episode, Andrew Atkinson joins me once again for a recap of events at Sin City Ruby 2024.  We also talk about Andrew's new Postgres consulting venture, his upcoming book High Performance PostgreSQL for Rails and what he learned in the process of writing the book,  deciding how to communicate what you do as a consultant, naming things appropriately, how poor decision making in the early stages in the creation of an app can make it prohibitively expensive to fix later,  how consulting jobs can naturally grow into new opportunities for work, being a generalist vs being a specialist, and Andrew's upcoming speaking engagements.High Performance PostgreSQL for Rails by Andrew AtkinsonRailsConfPosetteMadison RubyRubyConfRails WorldBlue Ridge RubyRubyKaigiRed Dot Ruby ConferencePGConf.devPGConf NYCAndy Atkinson.comAndrew Atkinson on TwitterAndrew Atkinson on MastodonAndrew Atkinson on LinkedInAndrew Atkinson on GitHubSin City Ruby

In this episode, Tom Henrik Aadland joins me for a conversation about learning languages, life as an ex-pat in small town Argentina, starting a company focused on quality control in Norwegian fish farming, microservices, object oriented design, learning from Fred George, and instilling a healthy testing culture. Tom Henrik Aadland on LinkedInTom Henrik Aadland on TwitterEGFred George on Twitter

On this episode, Rich Steinmetz returns once again for a conversation on working with and testing APIs.   Rich Steinmetz on Twitter Rich Stone.io

In this episode I talk with Andy Croll about Brighton Ruby Conference, RailsConf, and why attending a conference is an investment in your career.RailsConfBrighton Ruby ConferenceAndy Croll on TwitterAndy Croll on MastodonAndyCroll.comFirst Ruby FriendCoverageBook