RailsConf 2007: Hackfest

Posted by Scott Tue, 30 Jan 2007 01:52:00 GMT

A big thank-you to Derek Sivers, President of CDBaby for sponsoring a RubyOnRails competition in which the top 20 contributors (from the start of the year) to the open source framework were awarded passes and lodging to RailsConf 2007.

I took on this challenge when it was announced and learned a lot about Rails and about the Ruby on Rails community.

This contest reinforced several best practices that, regardless of language, I hope you are following.

Use Subversion

It is easy to start a project without using a version control system. As a project progresses, it is still easy for a programmer to continue without version control because they do not realize the benefits implemeting such a system would bring. I’ve done this. Our hapless programmer just makes some code changes and then tries out their changes and everything seems fine, they continue on. If not, they go back to their editor and try to “undo” the changes.

All programmers should be using a version control system, regardless of the size of the team or code-base. There is no reason not to.

Read the Subversion manual for everything you ever wanted to know about svn.

Practice Test Driven Development

This is probably the number one reason I love Rails, is because its community walks the talk and does practice TTD. Again, in Rails there is almost no reason not to.

Keep it Simple

Small changes can have big impact. Another place that Rails excels. It can be hard work to keep a solution simple. But the payoff down the road, when others are trying to understand and support it, is great.

Seek Help

The Rails community is awesome. If you have an issue, just ask at one of many places. Google for your question. Or send me a note and, though I’m in no way an expert, I’ll be happy to help.

p.s. By the way, I ended up one of the top 20! See you at RailsConf 2007!