James articles - 22 total
Assertions of Truth in Ruby Tests
I used to write my assertions like this: assert user.active? refute user.inactive? Enter...
The Surprising Case of `gets` in Ruby
gets is seen is basically every introductory Ruby tutorial, but they rarely tell the whole...
Warning on long branch names with git hooks
My company does some cool stuff with our CI pipeline. When someone submits a merge request, we know...
Finding A Method Declaration With Source Location
I recently had one of those moments where some code failed, but not in the way I expected it to. To...
Modules, Macros, Metaprogramming and Magic
If you’ve used the Rails framework, you will probably recognise this: class Comment <...
Book Review: It Doesn't Have To Be Crazy At Work
David Heinemeier Hansson and Jason Fried of Basecamp and Signal v. Noise lay out how they achieve...
Lazy Loading Images For Your Digital Library
For books that spark joy, but still take up too much bleedin' space.
I'm James, and I don't want to talk about myself.
I tried writing about myself and the things I want to see, but I couldn't really find anything I was...
What’s Tripping Up Uglifier?
In production mode, Rails 4 uses the uglifier gem to compress your JavaScript code into something...
Hand-holding Simulator
A silly and very simple hand-holding sim
It’s Time For Link Pages
There are a few complaints that are often made about the internet by those of us who spend too much...
Book Review: Refactoring UI
I recently bought myself a copy of Refactoring UI by Adam Wathan and Steve Schoger. I opted for the...
What Are You Going To Do When AI Steals Your Job?
I am reliably informed that one day soon, programmers will be obsolete. All the hard work you've put...
What Is The Worst Comment In Your Code?
We all have skeletons in our closets.
Now THIS Is Podracing!
What was the first time you really felt your development accelerate?
Notes From A Modestly Successful Open Source Project
About a week ago, I built this as an excuse to test out create-react-app. I was expecting to get a...
You want HOW MANY years experience?!
A handy tool for tech recruiters who ask for fifteen years experience in technologies that have only existed for three months.
Asking Better Questions
Advice for asking questions in a productive and unobtrusive way
Continued Learning For Intermediate Developers
Where do you go to keep up to date?
Working Out Of A Slump
The beginning of this year was awful for work. I just couldn’t get in to it. There were probably a...
Web Development Is Great
I’ve been writing code in one form or another for several years now. Sometimes ...
So You Want to Add a Feature?
Questions to ask before development begins