code Articles

Developing for Alexa using Elixir (Part Three)

Written by on Apr 20 2017

We wrote an Alexa Skill for our own personal use. Here's what we learned in the process.

Developing for Alexa using Elixir (Part Two)

Written by on Apr 19 2017

We wrote an Alexa Skill for our own personal use. Here's what we learned in the process.

Developing for Alexa using Elixir (Part One)

Written by on Apr 13 2017

We wrote an Alexa Skill for our own personal use. Here's what we learned in the process.

Nested Forms in Phoenix

Written by on Jan 30 2017

A quick example of how to use nested forms in Phoenix.

Source Diving in Other Languages

Written by on Jan 25 2017

In this post I'm going to compare this exploration of source code to other popular languages.

Looking at Elixir source code with List.insert_at/3

Written by on Jan 24 2017

In this post we are going to look at how lists are implemented in Elixir and how looking at its source code can teach us a thing or two about the language.

My First Conference (Elixir Conf)

Written by on Nov 14 2016

A few things I learned and experienced at my first tech conference.

The 4 Steps I Used to Finally Learn Vim

Written by on Aug 23 2016

I had tried and failed many times in the past to learn Vim. These were the four steps I took that made my last try successful.

How to Bring in a Junior Developer

Written by on Aug 17 2016

Bringing a junior into your team is an exercise in empathy.

What They Don't Tell You About Becoming a Software Developer - Part 2

Written by on Aug 16 2016

The difference between coding as a hobby and as a profession. The Soft Skills

What They Don't Tell You About Becoming a Software Developer - Part 1

Written by on Aug 7 2016

The difference between coding as a hobby and as a profession

How to Convert a String to Upper or Lowercase in Ruby

Written by on Jul 21 2016

Examples on how to change the case of a String in Ruby

Before picking your 1st programming language, read this now.

Written by on Jul 15 2016

Here are two things to consider before choosing your first programming language.

What are Bots and Conversational UIs?

Written by on Jun 22 2016

Bots are all the rage these days, but what are they? Here's a simple introduction to them.

An Argument for Using Cells, an Argument Against Using Cells in Rails

Written by on Apr 22 2016

Cells are great, but they’re like adding a safety railing to your Rails app.

The Coolest Piece of Code

Written by on Feb 3 2016

Steve tells the story of the coolest piece of software he's written.

How we track links in Google Analytics

Written by on Oct 21 2015

How we construct links in Google Analytics so we can see what marketing efforts are working and returning an ROI.

Turbolinks and Other Libraries

Written by on Nov 27 2012

Steve gives us a heads up on how to make Turbolinks and other JavaScript libraries play nice together in Ruby on Rails applications.

6 Sublime Text features/enhancements that I've discovered in the past 5 hours using the app

Written by on Sep 19 2012

I recently switched code editors from Textmate to Sublime Text. Here's what I've found in the past few hours since I started using Sublime Text.

Named Scopes Calling Named Scopes

Written by on Aug 10 2012

Did you know that in rails a named scope can call another named scope?

Lambdas and Procs in Named Scopes

Written by on Aug 9 2012

Steve shows that you can use Proc.new in a named scope instead of a lambda.

Making Methods Available to Class and Instance in Ruby

Written by on Aug 6 2012

Steve shows us how make a method that's defined in a module available to both the class scope and the instance scope.

The Difference Between include and extend in Ruby

Written by on Aug 2 2012

Today Steve shares with us the difference between the Ruby methods include and extend.

The Difference Between instance_eval and class_eval in Ruby

Written by on Aug 1 2012

Steve takes us on a small trip into Ruby metaprogramming by discussing the difference between instance_eval and class_eval.

Customizing Confirmation Dialogs in Rails

Written by on Jul 18 2012

Here's a nice hack from Dejan Simic that will allow you to actually override the confirm dialog box in a way that works.

There Is No Magic. Only Bad Magicians.

Written by on Jan 20 2012

Ruby on Rails or any code is not magic. The results of your code, your application, is the magic.

Switching from GoDaddy to DNSimple

Written by on Jan 4 2012

We've used godaddy.com for our domains for a long time, but recently we've decide to stop using them and switch to DNSimple.com.

Named Routes in Javascript - LessJsRoutes updated

Written by on Sep 15 2011

JQuery or Prototype users can easily put named routes into their javascript with ease.

Facebook ssl issue with Devise

Written by on May 9 2011

Writing Ruby code against Facebook's developer platform, and I ran into an issue with the oauth callback.

Steven Bristol is a Fucking Idiot

Written by on Aug 6 2010

An internal monologue about how Steve almost screwed the entire operation.

Rails in the Enterprise

Written by on Aug 3 2009

An astounding statistic about a company for employs support teams for their Java apps and none for their Rails apps.

An Alternative Rails Maturity Model

Written by on Feb 24 2009

An article about the recent argument that the Rails "Best Practice" for building apps has been discovered.

Fixjour is Awesome

Written by on Feb 18 2009

Steven shares a quick blurb about Fixjour fixture replacement library and why he enjoys it.

Path Variable Being "Unset"

Written by on Jan 16 2009

How we fixed a Less Accounting problem featuring bad PDF generation.

Wanna work for Less?

Written by on Jan 8 2009

Less Everything is hiring. Let us know who you are and what you do.

Guarded Assignment in Ruby

Written by on Dec 16 2008

Some information on Ruby operators and such.

Less TV Episode 2

Written by on Nov 10 2008

Steve talks about RubyConf 2008 in this episode of Less.TV.

Includes and Conditions in Named Scope

Written by on Nov 10 2008

Here's a bit of code to make sure your readers only get the information they haven't consumed yet.

Custom Parameters in ActiveResource#create

Written by on Oct 30 2008

Steve shares a little bit of API magic for your site.

Less Reverse Captcha

Written by on Oct 8 2008

Looking for a different way to do captchas on your site? Try Less Reverse Captcha.

Rails Links

Written by on Sep 18 2008

Some links that Steve thought might be useful for those who are new to Rails.

Comparing PHP to Ruby on Rails

Written by on Aug 25 2008

People occasionally ask us about the differences between PHP and Ruby on Rails. Here are my thoughts on the matter.

Flash[:error] and Cookie Sessions

Written by on Aug 6 2008

Some cookie coding tips from Steve.

Patch your rubies

Written by on Jun 25 2008

Upgrading your version of Ruby the right way in order to fix the holes.

Converting tzinfo from rails 2.0 to 2.1

Written by on Jun 9 2008

Rails coding bits from Steven.

No more Internet Explorer 6 support

Written by on Jun 5 2008

Running Internet Explorer 6? You're out of luck, homie.

How to convince developers to test.

Written by on Apr 17 2008

Steven talks about the importance of testing. (P.S. This post has nothing to do with safe sex.)

Rails Tip: Always Scope Your Finders

Written by on Apr 10 2008

Steven tells you how to scope your finders with Rails which lets you write your code without opening it.

Redirect from www to non-www using Nginx

Written by on Apr 9 2008

Let's say you want to redirect users from the www sub-domain of your website to direct access via the non-sub-domain url. Nginx makes it really easy to do.

Git HOWTO Start a new project based on an other project

Written by on Apr 4 2008

A little Git tutorial from Steven about coding with inspiration.

New Rails Envy Podcast is out -- Starring Me!

Written by on Mar 26 2008

Listen to Steve on the newest episode of the railsenvy.com podcast.

Got Git? HOWTO git and github

Written by on Mar 25 2008

Steven tells us a little bit about GitHub and the numerous possibilities of open source coding.

What if it's nil? What if it's method is nil?

Written by on Mar 12 2008

Here are 2 methods that work in conjunction with Chris Wanstrath's try().

Use attr_protected or we will hack you

Written by on Mar 11 2008

How to create a user account with administrative privileges using one command.

Haml doesn't like javascript

Written by on Feb 19 2008

Steven discusses some ins and outs of haml and JavaScript with some tips to help you along the way.

Cheat Sheets just got a lot better

Written by on Feb 12 2008

For those of you who do not use Cheat Sheets, you should. For those of you that do, they just got better.

Rails is a ghetto....So is ever other place.

Written by on Jan 28 2008

Steve gives an interesting review of Zed's "Rails is a Ghetto" article.

Bash Tip

Written by on Dec 11 2007

More coding bits from Steve. Bash.

Ruby 1.9 (yarv) is Almost Here....And it's Fast

Written by on Dec 5 2007

A little bit from Steven about the upcoming Ruby 1.9 update.

Setting up SSL on Nginx

Written by on Nov 28 2007

Instructions for setting up an ssl website on nginx using Godaddy certificates.

Installing the MySql Gem on Redhat Linux (CentOS)

Written by on Nov 18 2007

Coding bits for MySql Gem on Redhat Linux.

Textmate Search (grep) in Folder Updated

Written by on Nov 16 2007

Another update to TextMate grep bundle.

Yehuda Updated Grep in Projects (Textmate)

Written by on Nov 12 2007

Update to a TextMate bundle from an earlier post.

Invalid Label Error When Eval JSON

Written by on Oct 25 2007

If you are getting an "invalid label" error when doing eval() on a json string, here is the solution.

Named Routes in JavaScript

Written by on Oct 24 2007

Have you ever wanted to use named routes in your JavaScript? So have I. Now you can.

Rails RESTful Url Guide

Written by on Sep 27 2007

Guide to RESTful url formats in Rails.

Installing ImageMagick and RMagick on Mac OS X

Written by on Sep 26 2007

I have found a new way of doing this that is so good I can't believe I haven't heard about this before. It turns out, there is a one click (command) installer for ImageMagick and RMagick and nobody is talking about it.

Be Careful Who You Hire, I Know What Their Code Looks Like.

Written by on Aug 31 2007

I am going to start posting little quips our guys innocently say to me.

TextMate Tip of the Day

Written by on Aug 23 2007

A great helper by Yehuda Katz.

Apache not starting on boot OS X? Here's how to fix.

Written by on Aug 16 2007

Fix an Apache bug

Install ImageMagick & RMagick on Mac OS X

Written by on Aug 15 2007

Quick tip

Rails help

Written by on Jul 18 2007

We posted an advert for some rails help for a project we have coming up. Here is what we are looking for.

Today's Textmate Tip 2

Written by on Jun 26 2007

Here is a snippet all of you jQuery on Rails people can use.

Today's TextMate Tip

Written by on Jun 25 2007

Insert closing tag.

Setting up ImageMagick & rmagick on Redhat (CentOS)

Written by on Jun 24 2007

ImageMagick tip

Setting up nginx on redhat (centos)

Written by on Jun 22 2007

Nginx set up tips.

Steve's Array Cheatsheet for JavaScript & Ruby

Written by on Jun 21 2007

A quick cheat sheet for arrays.

Paypal on Rails...ActiveMerchant tips

Written by on Jun 6 2007

Tips for using PayPal with ActiveMerchant.

RailsConf ... The Eagle Has Landed

Written by on May 18 2007

Passing Mt. Hood while flying in to Portland was a breathtaking experience. A very large, singular peak, no friends or neighbors, just the proud lonely peak.

One last thing about nginx -- how to config many sites

Written by on Mar 25 2007

Configure many sites with nginx.

Moving svn from one machine to another

Written by on Mar 12 2007

How to move a subversion repository from one machine to another.

Installing nginx on centos

Written by on Mar 8 2007

PRCE is no where to be found on my system.

Rails vs. Django

Written by on Feb 23 2007

Whats the difference between Rails and Django?

Making jQuery and Prototype play nice in Rails

Written by on Dec 30 2006

For those of you not in the know, there is a relatively new (about a year old) javascript library called jQuery.