Optimizing for less code with UJS and data-behavior

January 28, 2017

UJS is a small javascript library that manages interactions with endpoints implementing SJR (Server-generated Javascript Responses), in addition to providing a few behaviors such as non-GET HTTP verbs for links, simple confirm UIs, and the disabling of elements with optional loading text while remote requests are processing. UJS and SJR are a fantastic solution for keeping a web application’s frontend code minimal, in an age where wild over-engineering in this area is increasingly the norm.

UJS behavior binding is declarative, and happens via data attributes (for instance you can use the attribute-value pair data-disable-with='Processing' to disable a submit button with the loading text “Processing” during a form POST).

For all that is great about UJS, one thing that it does not offer is any formal suggestion of a practice for introducing your own custom unobtrusive javascript behaviors to your application. For this we need to look beyond the library and to the broader developer community surrounding Rails and UJS.

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Be proudest of your under-engineering
The Technics SL-1200 MKII turntable has had the same mechanically simple design for 37 years, yet its quality, performance and reliability are considered unmatched.

Be proudest of your under-engineering

January 14, 2017

I am an under-engineer-er. The default lens through which I approach problems is one that prioritizes Less Code.

Usually the highest-leverage additions to your app are not complex ones, though having already increased your complexity surface area for nebulous ends or a distant vision will quickly make them so.

I am a student of Martin Fowler’s First Law.

I am also a strong believer that the documentation of any mature framework you may lean on inevitably proves an order of magnitude more comprehensive and approachable than that which your team may draft for any home-grown framework.

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Rails 5’s best feature is one you may not have noticed

Rails 5’s best feature is one you may not have noticed

December 10, 2016

I noticed something curious when I booted my first project atop Rails 5 in development mode: that when the development server was idling, the title bar on Terminal.app would read “fsevent_watch”.

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Finishing Is Credibility

Finishing Is Credibility

December 07, 2016

One of the things I am most proud of, and that I am most surprised to find distinguishes me when I look around at other people in my professional circles, is how often I finish things. To me, finishing is credibility, and a person’s record not just of starting or working on projects, but of finishing them, should be a factor in the weight you give to their opinions or the degree of leadership you entrust them with.

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On Boring Stacks

November 25, 2016

A good friend sent me Jason Kester’s article Happiness is a Boring Stack a few weeks ago. The friend knows me well and knew the words of the piece would resonate strongly. The piece is worth a read. Its essential point is that while Hacker News,  Medium, or certain of your colleagues may give you the impression that you have woefully mis-stepped if you aren’t building your application atop the latest and greatest JavaScript framework and containerization solution, from a perspective of pragmatism and quality of life this is often not at all the case:

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Practice

November 02, 2016

I recently read Chad Fowler’s The Passionate Programmer, a book broadly concerned with finding fulfillment through work in software development. The book had an unexpectedly strong impact on me. Many of Fowler’s key points aligned uncannily with recent experiences and observations of my own. One section that leapt out in particular to me concerned practice.

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From Jekyll to WordPress

From Jekyll to WordPress

October 21, 2016 2 Comments

I’ve been lazily running this blog since 2013, though for long stretches I’d find time to post only every few months. Initially I published with a minimal blogging engine I’d written myself in Ruby on Rails. At some point I came across Tom Preston-Werner’s article Blog Like a Hacker in which outlines the many raisons d’être for his static site generator, Jekyll. The thrust of it all is that the tools we use for managing code, such as the Git version control system, are actually uncannily suited to prose writing as well. In fact adopting a programming-like workflow and tooling for your blog alleviates some very real pains that you’ll experience if you use a more ordinary CMS like WordPress.

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A Review of PeerStreet

A Review of PeerStreet

October 09, 2016 1 Comment

Investing is not something I have historically written much about on this blog, but it is something that I have cared about, studied and practiced for the last several years. My investments are largely in boring, low-fee, broad-market index funds like VTI, VYM and XLK, but I have been experimenting with the Peer-to-Peer lending site PeerStreet for several months and wanted to write a review as I have now backed several loans through their platform. This experience has given me a good sense of PeerStreet’s features, upsides, downsides and how it could align with different investor profiles and goals.

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