PinnedMember-onlyHow to Deploy a Rails App to RenderDeploying a Rails app to the web isn’t too complex of a task, depending on your approach. You can rent out an actual server, get a VPS, use a cloud provider like AWS or Azure, or use a PaaS. A PaaS, platform as a service, makes the process easier at…Ruby3 min readRuby3 min read
Oct 28, 2022Member-onlyThoughts on A Philosophy of Software DesignI recently finished reading “A Philosophy of Software Design” by John Ousterhout. It’s a brief but dense book full of the author’s opinions on designing software well. Right from the beginning, John calls out that complexity is the enemy of well-designed software. …Software Development4 min readSoftware Development4 min read
Oct 28, 2022Member-onlyEliminating Code Complexity by Finding Double NegativesI have been reading “A Philosophy of Software Design,” and almost the entire book is spent either explaining the dangers of complexity in a codebase, or eliminating complexity. Code, especially Ruby code, should make its intent loud and clear to the reader. Clear code is the opposite of complex code…Software Engineering2 min readSoftware Engineering2 min read
Oct 28, 2022Member-onlyHow I’m Learning Faster as a Software EngineerIt’s been a long time since I’ve written anything on my own website, over a year actually. It’s also been a busy year for me — I got a job as a Software Engineer and worked hard at it while finishing my degree, I got my degree, and I got…Careers3 min readCareers3 min read
Published in Level Up Coding·May 25, 2021Member-onlyHow I Built and Launched a SaaS App in 2 DaysI actually launched my weekend project — A little over a week ago, I launched RailsWork, a job board for Ruby on Rails developers. In this post, I’m going to talk about the why of my project and also the how, and the tools I’ve used along the way. Feel free to skip around 👀 Like a…SaaS7 min readSaaS7 min read
Published in Level Up Coding·Jan 17, 2021Member-onlyHow To Use Swift’s Ternary OperatorTake advantage of syntactic sugar in Swift — Ternary operators are beyond cool. They’re an easy way to do some if-else logic all on one line. Beyond that, they’re still easy to read and understand, so you don’t have to sacrifice readability for the ‘cool factor’ of using a language’s advanced features. …Programming2 min readProgramming2 min read
Published in Level Up Coding·Jan 7, 2021Member-onlyShould I Major in Computer Science?How to decide if a degree in computer science will lead you to the career you want — I’m in my fourth year studying Computer Science (and Engineering 🤷♂️), and I’m certain this was the right move for me. But is a degree in Computer Science the right path for you? Is Computer Science a good major? For me, the decision was all but obvious once I eliminated…Computer Science6 min readComputer Science6 min read
Published in Dev Genius·Dec 13, 2020Member-onlyInterview With a Self-Taught iOS DeveloperHow Frank Foster went from IT to iOS — Here’s the tweet that I’d been waiting for since I started following Frank back in April. Frank comes from an IT background, and landed an iOS development job in the middle of 2020. Heck of a year for a career change. …Careers6 min readCareers6 min read
Oct 30, 2020Member-onlyWhy You Can’t FocusWhy your brain works against you — This was originally published in my newsletter, iOS By Night. If you subscribe there, you’ll see more of my writing, sooner than anywhere else. Being able to devote your full attention to something is fundamental to thriving in any area of life, so why is it so hard? In Cal…Productivity3 min readProductivity3 min read
Published in Mac O’Clock·Sep 14, 2020Member-onlySwitching From iPad to iPad ProWhy should I get an iPad Pro? — This article was originally published here on my blog, if you prefer to read it there. I’ve been using an iPad for about 3 years, and I absolutely love it. Too often I hear tech-enthusiasts blast it as an underpowered toy computer for grandmothers — and wow is that underselling…IPhone4 min readIPhone4 min read
