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Optional method parameters in Ruby
One of the things I love about Ruby is the flexibility it provides when it comes to method parameters. It’s dead simple to provide default values for one or more parameters, to handle variable length...
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Fast Queries on Large Datasets Using MongoDB and Summary Documents
The past few months we at Signal have been spending a considerable amount of time and effort enhancing the performance of our application for some of our larger customers. It wasn’t that long ago that...
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What I Learned by Attending a Code Retreat
On Tuesday, July 26th, I attended my first code retreat. The code retreat was led by Corey Haines and Tyler Jennings, sponsored by Obtiva, and held to coincide with Tech Week. Simply put, it was...
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Introducing Proby – Task monitoring made simple!
Note: This entry has been cross-posted from the Signal company blog. One Monday morning about a month ago, I was browsing through open issues in our bug tracker looking for something to work on. It was...
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An Adjustment in Priorities
I think it is very common this time of year for people to reflect, especially on their accomplishments during the past year, and what they would like to accomplish next year. Personally, I’ve been...
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Beware the Hack!
Hacks are dangerous little creatures. They live in the darkest, dustiest corners of your application, forgotten about, waiting… Waiting for the chance to rear their ugly little heads, open their...
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ReloadablePath in Rails 3
A core feature of the Signal application is support for custom promotion web forms. Custom promotion web forms allow our customers to create custom web pages that will allow their customers to interact...
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Professionals Act Professional
I’m sick of it. Every week (at least it feels that way) some new drama rears its ugly head in the ruby community. Petty arguments via twitter, one ranting blog post after another, people mocking ideas...
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Want to Build a Better Web API? Build a Client Library!
A solid web API can be an important thing to have. Not only is it great to give users direct access to their data, but exposing data and operations via a web API enables your users to help themselves...
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The Beauty of Redis
If I had to name a single piece of software that has impressed me lately, it would undoubtably be Redis. Not only is this key/value store on steroids blazing fast, but it is also very simple, and...
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Introducing AuroraAlarm
I just finished up work on my latest side project, AuroraAlarm. AuroraAlarm is a FREE service that will notify you via SMS when conditions are optimal for viewing the Aurora Borealis in your area. I...
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Choosing the Right Host for Your Web Application
There is no shortage of options when it comes to web application hosting. However, the capabilities of these hosts can vary widely from one to the next. Therefore, it is important to understand what...
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Managing Development Data for a Service Oriented Architecture
A service oriented architecture (SOA) provides many benefits. It allows for better separation of responsibilities. It simplifies deployment by letting you only deploy the services that have changed. It...
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Running a Private Gem Server
There are a few different ways to share code between Ruby applications, but perhaps the best known is by creating a Ruby gem. However, RubyGems.org (where gems are published by default) is a public...
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Migrating Data – Rails Migrations or a Rake Task?
Note: This article has been cross posted on the UrbanBound product blog. I’ve always thought that Migrations were one of Rails’ best features. In one of the very first projects I worked on as a n00b...
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Fix Flaky Feature Tests by Using Capybara’s APIs Properly
Note: This article has been cross posted on the UrbanBound product blog. A good suite of reliable feature/acceptance tests is a very valuable thing to have. It can also be incredibly difficult to...
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Tips and Tricks for Dubugging and Fixing Slow/Flaky Capybara Specs
Note: This article has been cross posted on the UrbanBound product blog. In a previous post, I wrote about how the proper use of Capybara’s APIs can dramatically cut back on the number of flaky/slow...
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Using Page Objects for More Readable Feature Specs
Feature specs are great for making sure that a web application works from end to end. But feature specs are code, and like all other code, the specs must be readable and maintainable if you are to get...
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The Road to Deploy When Ready
Our deployment process at UrbanBound has matured considerably over the past year. In this blog post, I’d like to describe how we moved from prescribed deployment windows with downtime, to a...
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Rails Validations Alone Won’t Save You
ActiveRecord validations are a very powerful tool. They allow you clearly and concisely declare rules for your model that must be met in order for any instance of that model to be considered “valid”....
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