Ruby Singleton Objects
Here’s another freebie from the deep RubyTapas stacks. This one is about a truth of object modeling that we don’t often talk about: not every object needs to have state….
Why and how to use Ruby’s Hash#fetch for default values
Here’s another classic from the early days of RubyTapas. Originally published as Episode #11 in October 2012, it’s a complement to the episode on using fetch as an assertion. This…
Alternative Ruby Symbol Literals
Periodically I take episodes from the RubyTapas archives and publish them for free. This episode from October 2012 is about symbol literals, and how you can use alternative quoting syntax…
Run Rails 6 System Tests in Docker Using a Host Browser
The problem: we wanted to get Rails system tests running using a browser on our development machines.
Rails 6 System Tests, From Top to Bottom
Selenium! Capybara! Webdriver! chromedriver! …there are a LOT of moving parts in Rails system tests. Let’s break it down, layer by layer.
Small, sharp tools can cut you
Some reflections on the UNIX command-line model, and where it falls short.
Code and Chicken Wire
In which I argue that code is less about solving problems than about creating leverage.
The Well in the Field
When I was a child, I lived with my parents in the woods. We had an old-fashioned hand-dug well, the kind from storybooks that looks like a big hole in…
Edsger Dijkstra and the TSA school of software correctness
A point of view focused on prevention, and on categories of error we already understand, will necessarily shortchange the tools and methods for approaching brand new new surprises as they happen.