February 23, 2022

Why Vim

I’ve been using, teaching, and stanning Vim since almost the beginning of my programming career. Yet, when asked to explain this preference, I stumble. In this post, I’d like to explore why I love Vim.

February 22, 2022

On Disabling Tests

Today I want to talk about a common technique: disabling failing tests to allow a feature to ship. Maybe sometimes you gotta do it. But long-term I think it causes more problems than it solves.

February 15, 2022

Count to Ten

Here’s a trick that that has helped me as a programmer: before doing anything major, like killing a process, stop and count to ten.

February 14, 2022

Avoid Similar Variable Names

A convention I see in Ruby tests are variable names like this:

user_a = create(:user, last_log_in: today)
user_b = create(:user, last_log_in: last_year)

February 10, 2022

Refining Your Terminal Aliases

Any command you type out manually, or even tab-complete a few times, can be shortened. A common shortening technique is the terminal alias. Here are some tips that help me write better aliases and cut my terminal keystrokes.

February 9, 2022

Ruby's Frozen String Comment: YAGNI

Open a production Ruby file, and you’ll often see this magic comment at the top.

# frozen_string_literal: true

Today I’d like to argue that most Ruby files do not need this comment. You aren’t going to need it.

February 7, 2022

Two Reasons Why I Don’t Point Agile Bug Tickets

When I create Agile bug tickets, I don’t add Agile story points. In this post, I’d like to explain this preference via two arguments: pointing bugs creates backward incentives, and bugs are surprisingly difficult to point.

February 4, 2022

Weekly Summary Technique

“What did you do this week?” I’ve written a weekly summary for myself and my teams for years. In this post, I’ll explain how I use this tool.

February 2, 2022

Opt Into Beta

Here’s a technique I’ve used on launches: instead of a big scary waterfall, or, in tandem with a phased release, let customers opt into a new feature.

January 31, 2022

How to Find a Programming Mentor

I have collected a group of mentors over the years. I call on them frequently to talk through tough problems. I think I’m better at my job because of this regular, impartial outside feedback. I’d wish this for everyone! In this post, I’ll try to reverse-engineer the path I took to get here.