The GoRails Gang Takes Over

On this episode of Remote Ruby, Chris and his GoRails team is taking over since Jason and Andrew are traveling. Today, Chris has joining him Kent Crutchfield, who’s a customer service expert for GoRails, and Collin Jilbert, who’s a Ruby/Rails Dev at GoRails.  As we kick off this episode, we start by exploring a captivating debugging situation involving GoRails servers, the C language, and the operating system Kernel. Chris and Collin discuss their ongoing Hatchbox integration project, and Kent’s expert handling of complex tasks. We also hear about Chris’s new interactive forum series coming out soon, some advice for aspiring coders, and there’s a discussion around tools like GitHub Copilot and their potential impact on developers’ growth.  We’ll wrap things up with Kent sharing his favorite part about joining the team, the rewarding experiences he’s had, and the sheer love for his work in Ruby and Rails.  Hit download to hear much more! [00:00:58] Kent shares his background in customer support and how he started working at GoRails. [00:02:49] Chris and Collin discuss a challenging debugging situation they had to solve involving the C language, GoRails servers, and the operating system Kernel. They also remember a previous conversation regarding the complexities of CSS optimization at scale based on a talk from a GitHub employee. [00:07:50] The team has been working on Hetzner integration for Hatchbox, and despite the complexities of Hatchbox, Kent finds the challenges interesting and satisfying to overcome. He also highlights there are GoRails beginner-friendly content and new learning paths.[00:09:51] Chris is close to completing a new forum series for their learning path, transitioning from a blog format. The forum has topics, posts, and other features. He plans to add videos to their learning videos to their learning content in the future.[00:13:54] Collin and Chris discuss the importance of a practical approach to feature building, starting with the basics, and evolving through identifying potential issues and edge cases as they arise. [00:16:38] Kent suggests sticking to Rails defaults as much as possible and avoiding AWS for beginners. He also mentions that a lot of issues arise when users try to implement fancier features. [00:18:16] They discuss the SSL configuration complexity, Cloudflare’s role as a proxy, and its implications on the application. Chris mentions the exceptional performance of Caddy in automating the SSL certification process and migrating problems related to domain set-up. [00:25:28] Kent shares some advice for aspiring coders to be consistent, read books, watch instructional videos like GoRails, and build something, no matter how small. Chris emphasizes the importance of learning how to debug.[00:30:59] Collin expresses concern that tools like GitHub Copilot might hinder developers’ growth by offering ready-made solutions without a thorough understanding of the problem, and Chris suggests that Copilot is useful for repetitive tasks. [00:33:22] The discussion evolves around the importance of understanding the underlying code versus just getting a task done. Chris and Collin imply that this depends on the programmer’s immediate goal, whether it’s to ship the product quickly or to build something that won’t break in the future. [00:39:10] What’s been Kent’s favorite thing about coming onto the team? He tells us it’s learning Ruby and Rails while working in meaningful tasks, pairing with colleagues, addressing issues patiently and thoroughly, and he shares a rewarding experience.[00:41:26] What’s been the worst thing for Kent about joining the team? Nothing! He loves learning and working in Ruby and Rails. Panelist:Chris OliChris Oliver X/TwitterAndrew Mason X/TwitterJason Charnes X/Twitter