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How-to guides, tooling tips and real-world advice for developers and product managers tired of broken software. Let’s fix this mess together.

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Line drawing of a rocky mountain peak with a base camp and people building structures

Quality you can’t generate: AI is only as good as your constraints

AI changed the cost structure of software. It didn't change the value structure. The value is no longer the code you write. It's the taste, judgment, and constraints you encode into the system that shapes what AI produces.

Dave Mosher

A figure looks off towards the horizon. On the left is a giant robot, on the right a splash of vibrant color, connected nodes and a city unfurl.

Why we're not chasing the AI hype (And what we're doing instead)

Todd Kaufman

Speed is a side effect of making the system work

Doc Norton

Maximize software investment

Rubber duck in fedora and trench coat stands next to a vintage microphone

IndyPy Talk: Pydantically perfect in every way

Kyle Adams

Software tooling & tips

Double Takes

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Double Takes

TDDing with Claude is like having a pair that removes all the failing assertions every time you go to the bathroom.

Steve Jackson

State machines are the answer for those seeking determinism in the era of AI agents.

Dave Mosher

A Slack conversation left Doc reflecting on what bug bashes say about the systems we work in.

Doc Norton

Test-driven development is to programming what double-entry bookkeeping is to accounting.

Neal Lindsay

The fundamental character flaw of the software creator is not the misguided belief that they can solve any problem with software. Instead, it is the belief they can understand how their own software works before they create it.

Steve Jackson

We may need a SaaS appendix for Zawinski's law:

Any SaaS platform attempts to expand until it is a social network.

Matt Jones

It's literally impossible to learn everything there is to learn about programming. And there's no need to.

Sustainable Learning

Josh Justice shares an approach to learning that he stumbled upon to avoid mistakes that may be hindering your learning, make the flow of information manageable, solidify your skills, and feel motivated all along the way.

Josh Justice

Recruiting & careers

agile

professional-growth

Caution sign

Get safer TypeScript code with Zod: a practical guide

Discover the power of Zod in validating TypeScript schemas, making your code more robust and error-free. Perfect for developers looking to improve their TypeScript skills.

Joseph Lozano

Software tooling & tips

typescript

Illustration showing one person's head is full of jumbled up lines, and the other person's head is full of stars and neat circles

How to safely improve your database schema

Ever thought of tweaking your database without halting operations? Dive into our guide on making non-disruptive schema changes effectively.

Justin Schoen

Software tooling & tips

agile

Super Standard: How to add gem extensions and custom rules to Standard Ruby

Discover how the new extend_config option in Ruby Standard 1.22.1 allows you to tailor your code formatting to fit your team's needs, reducing debates and boosting productivity.

Justin Searls

Accelerate quality software

ruby

testing

open-source

standard-ruby

Toy robotwe

Dual booting a Rails upgrade with Docker and CI

Bootboot is a great tool for dual booting your Rails upgrade, but it doesn't play well with deployment environments running Rails 4.x. In this blog post we'll show you how you can leverage Docker to effectively get Bootboot to work in these environments.

Ali Ibrahim

rails

docker

Side project success: 4 tips to stay focused and motivated

Struggling with your side projects? Discover four practical tips to keep your coding projects on track, stay motivated, and enjoy the process. Perfect for developers at any stage.

Josh Justice

Software tooling & tips

professional-growth

Podcast: Don't sleep on Ruby and Rails

Justin Searls

ruby

rails

Effective and easy strategies to hate bugs a little less

Ever spent weeks bug bashing on a project? Our guide shares essential tips and hindsight to make your software testing process smoother and more effective. Read on and discover how to avoid common pitfalls and improve your testing workflow.

Pier-Luc Faucher

Pier-Luc Faucher

agile

testing

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