Measure, Release, Measure Again
In the world of product development, there is far too little mentioned about the need and use of data in decision making. We’re easily pleased with ideas that seem logical to us, but may be terrible for the users of our product. We add new features, but we never check to see if the investment we made (in resources and hours spent) have actually paid off.
Delegation in Rails
After spending a year or two in Rails, I started to plateau a bit. I knew my code wasn’t clean, but didn’t know how to make it better. I began to ask more-senior Rails programmers about thoughts and ideas that helped them improve.
Default UUID's In Rails
🎉 I added a new feature to Rails: Default to `uuid` as primary key when generating database migrations. Enjoy! https://t.co/u0UNmJk98O
— Jon McCartie (@jmccartie) October 20, 2015SMS Verification With Rails
While working recently on a side project, I came across the task of “SMS validation”. The project allows users to sign up with their mobile phone number, and have certain text messages sent to their phone on a schedule they determine. Here’s how the feature request came in:
User Time Zone On Signup
Knowing a user’s time zone can be incredibly important to your application. At SproutMark we utilize this information in numerous places to enhance the user’s experience.
Using Sub To Simplify Workflow
At LifeChurch.tv, we’ve spent some time over the last year improving our toolset. Good tools allow us to spend less time thinking about the random details of our processes and focus more on creating great products for church’s around the world.
First Things First
When I was a kid, my mother had one rule that always drove me crazy: “You can’t go out to play until you clean your room.” This tyranny was always frustrating to me, and despite usually knowing her answer, I’d usually ask to go outside knowing full-well my room was a mess. But she stuck to her guns and I’m glad she did.
Stay On Top Of Your Technical Debt
Software engineers: Small things make a big difference.
Vision In The Trenches
Starting a project is easy. You have a clean slate, a goal in mind, and the sky’s the limit. Each new addition to the project is laced with satisfaction as you forge your way towards the finished product.
Hi there, I'm Jon.
Writer. Musician. Adventurer. Nerd.
Purveyor of GIFs and dad jokes.