A long while back I gave myself a challenge: I was going to code up and launch a web app in a weekend. And I was going to narrate and record the whole process for later release as a screencast series.
I did just that, and created cowsays.com. I later edited and released two parts of the recording, but I never found the time to release any more parts of the series. This left the people who bought those videos hanging, for which I feel bad.
That was where things stood for a year or so. But now I’m happy to say that Tekpub has taken my original footage edited it down, and released it as a one hour and twenty minute screencast!
They’ve done a stunning job on it too. The editing is tight and fast-paced; they’ve added explanatory text when I use a library or gem without explaining what it is; and they’ve added snazzy pan-and-zoom so you that the “camera” is always focused on what’s important. I was absolutely floored when I first saw the finished product. Here’s a preview:
If you’ve ever wanted to watch “over my shoulder” as I think my way through an application, this is the video for you. I cover a ton of ground in this video, from basic REST API stuff to using less-common libraries like DataMapper and Erector. Here’s the list (from Tekpub’s site) of all the topics covered:
- Start with nothing but a failing integration test.
- Use IO.popen to call out to Perl from Ruby.
- Set up Guard to automate tests and Bundler updates.
- Use Hub and Magit to simplify working with Git and GitHub.
- TDD a simple Sinatra service using RSpec and rack-test.
- Create a Heroku app.
- Create a Rackup file and deploy to Heroku.
- Refactoring the Sinatra app from a “classic” app to a “modular” style app.
- Switching to Unit Tests as method logic increases in complexity.
- Migrate from a Sinatra app to a Rails app that mounts the Sinatra app as a service.
- Use Datamapper for persistence.
- Use Erector for object-oriented views.
- Use Coffeescript and jQuery to liven up the UI.
If that sounds like something you’d be into, check it out on Tekpub. UPDATE: I now sell this video from my own store. Get it here!
NOTE! If you already bought one or more of the “cowsays” videos from me: please check your inbox; you should have an email with a coupon code which will get you a steep discount.