Code and the Coding Coders who Code it

Jaksot

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  Episode 66 - Live (at the time) At Rails World 2026 06.10.2026 44min

  That RailsWorld keynote didn’t just start a debate, it forced a reset on how we talk about Ruby on Rails in the age of AI. We’re live from the Buzzsprout podcast booth with Joël Quenneville (principal developer at thoughtbot and Bike Shed co-host) and Tom Rossi (Buzzsprout co-founder) to unpack what’s changing when many of us barely write code by hand anymore and instead “coach” an LLM agent. We dig into the practical side of AI-driven development: why Rails conventions still matter, why gen...
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  Episode 65 - Mike Coutermarsh 21.04.2026 1t 11min

  Your database is slow, your Sentry is screaming, and the backlog is full of “we’ll fix it later.” What if an AI agent handled the boring but high-impact work while you slept and just opened a clean pull request for review the next morning? We’re joined by Mike Coutermarsh, a software engineer who helped build GitHub Actions and later left GitHub for PlanetScale. We talk candidly about the trade-offs: walking away from big-company comfort, choosing impact over feeling like a cog, and learning...
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  Episode 64 - Delaney Gillilan 07.04.2026 1t 32min

  React made a lot of us feel powerful, then maintenance made a lot of us feel tired. Drew Bragg sits down with Delaney Gillilan, creator of Datastar, to argue for a different kind of “modern web” one that keeps the browser’s strengths front and center and keeps your app logic where it belongs: on the server. If you’ve ever looked at your dependency graph and wondered how you got here, this conversation is a reset. We get concrete about what Datastar is and how it works: a tiny reactive framew...
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  Episode 63 - Travis Dockter 24.03.2026 57min

  What if the most useful software in your life isn’t a product, but something you built for yourself in an evening? That’s the spark for this conversation with Travis Dockter, a Rails developer and organizer of Blast Off Rails, where we dig into how AI turns personal ideas into working tools—fast. From a “house health” app that scores chores to a suite of single-user utilities, we break down what’s changed: ideation is quicker, boilerplate is lighter, and the cost of experimentation has never ...
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  Episode 62 - Cameron Dutro 03.02.2026 1t 16min

  What if you could keep Rails pages fast, accessible, and SEO‑friendly, yet still get modern interactivity without shipping a mountain of JavaScript? We sit down with Cameron Dutro to unpack Live Component, a server‑first approach that breathes life into ViewComponent by treating state as data, rendering on the server, and morphing the DOM with Hotwire. No fragile ID wiring. No React by default. Just clear state, small payloads, and focused updates. We trace the path that led here: experiment...
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  Episode 61 - Ernesto Tagwerker 27.01.2026 58min

  Rails upgrades don’t have to feel like crossing a minefield. We sit down with Ernesto, founder and CTO of FastRuby and Ombu Labs, to unpack a pragmatic path from legacy Rails to Rails 8.1 and how AI can accelerate the work without sacrificing quality. From Ruby 4.0 landing over the holidays to a near-release of RubyCritic 5.0, we dig into the tools, the traps, and the test-suite realities that make or break an upgrade. Ernesto walks us through a free AI-powered upgrade roadmap that analyzes ...
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  Episode 60 - Jeremy Smith 13.01.2026 54min

  What makes a small Ruby conference feel electric instead of ordinary? We unpack the craft behind Blue Ridge Ruby—why we chose a newly renovated, accessible venue, how a single-track format keeps the room together, and the little details that turn a meetup into a memory. From open lunches across Asheville to surprise sponsor moments, we share the thinking that goes into designing an event that celebrates Ruby, supports new speakers, and still feels human-scale. Jeremy breaks down the CFP play...
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  Episode 59 - Scott Werner 18.11.2025 49min

  What if AI could make your work more creative instead of more crowded? We sit down with Scott Werner to unpack a practical path for Ruby developers who want the leverage of AI without sacrificing taste, clarity, or joy. From agentic coding with Claude Code to context-rich tools like Tidewave, we walk through how better inputs—logs, DOM access, database state—turn generic suggestions into usable plans that reduce cognitive load and speed up real problem solving. Scott shares the origin story ...
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  Ruby’s Trustquake 07.10.2025 51min

  In this episode of C4, Andrew Mason and Rachael Wright-Munn join Drew to unpack recent controversies surrounding Ruby Central and its alleged takeover of Ruby Gems and Bundler. The trio delves into the timeline of events, conflicting narratives, communication failures, and the underlying security concerns. They address theories and facts, scrutinize the governance of Ruby Central, and discuss the implications for the Ruby community. The episode emphasizes the importance of asking questions an...
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  Episode 58 - Aaron Patterson 16.09.2025 1t 3min

  Ruby core team member Aaron Patterson (tenderlove) takes us deep into the cutting edge of Ruby's performance frontier in this technical exploration of how one of the world's most beloved programming languages continues to evolve. At Shopify, Aaron works on two transformative projects: ZJIT, a method-based JIT compiler that builds on YJIT's success by optimizing register allocation to reduce memory spills, and enhanced Ractor support to enable true CPU parallelism in Ruby applications. He exp...
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  Episode 57 - Marco Roth 02.09.2025 1t 4min

  Marco Roth joins us to unveil Herb, his revolutionary toolchain for Rails views that's reshaping how we work with HTML and ERB. Having identified a critical gap in the Rails ecosystem—robust tooling for the view layer—Marco decided to build the solution himself, learning C along the way to create a parser with unparalleled cross-platform compatibility. Far from just another syntax checker, Herb represents a comprehensive vision for modernizing Rails views. Marco walks us through his layered ...
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  Episode 56 - Aji Slater 19.08.2025 58min

  The journey from circus performer to respected software developer isn't a common career path, but Aji Slater navigates it with the same thoughtful precision he applies to code. As a former Ringling Brothers clown who now leads development teams at ThoughtBot, Aji brings a refreshingly unique perspective to technical challenges and community contribution. Diving into his current work with a 12-13 year old Rails codebase, Aji shares his struggles with an Angular frontend implemented in non-sta...
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  Episode 55 - Joe Masilotti 06.08.2025 54min

  When Joe Masilotti scanned a conference badge QR code at RailsConf, he was immediately uncomfortable with how it added someone's phone number directly to his contacts. That friction point sparked the creation of Ruby Friends – an innovative app transforming how developers connect at conferences and meetups. In this illuminating conversation with Drew Bragg, Joe reveals how Ruby Friends provides a "lighter touch" approach to networking, letting users create shareable profiles with conversatio...
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  Episode 54 - Live (at the time) from RailsConf 2025 15.07.2025 45min

  The Ruby community's most recognizable podcast voices gather for a heartfelt discussion at the final RailsConf in Philadelphia, sharing wisdom that extends far beyond technical topics into the realm of human connection. From conquering social anxiety at conferences to building meaningful relationships in tech, this panel digs into what makes the Ruby community special. Drew Bragg of Code and the Coding Coders who Code it confesses that despite his outgoing appearance, he still struggles with...
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  Episode 53 - Joel Hawksley 02.07.2025 54min

  When does a framework reach maturity? For Joel Hawksley, lead maintainer of GitHub's ViewComponent framework, the answer comes with the upcoming fourth major release – a milestone that marks not just new features, but a transition to long-term support mode. Joel takes us behind the scenes of his seven-year journey at GitHub, where an idea sketched on an airplane has evolved into a critical part of how the platform renders its interfaces. With candid insights, he explains why ViewComponent is...
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  Episode 52 - Vladimir Dementyev 17.06.2025 1t 6min

  What happens when you put Rails in a browser? Vladimir Dementyev (Vova) is pushing WebAssembly to its limits by creating an interactive Rails playground that runs entirely client-side. This groundbreaking project aims to eliminate the frustrating installation barriers that often discourage newcomers from trying Ruby on Rails. "I asked myself the question - can I run Rails on WASM? And that's when you feel yourself like a pilgrim software engineer, experiencing something for the first time th...
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  Episode 51 - Chris Oliver 03.06.2025 1t 22min

  The last RailsConf ever is coming to Philadelphia this summer, and co-chair Chris Oliver joins us to pull back the curtain on what's sure to be a historic gathering for the Rails community. Chris reveals how the programming committee curated an exceptional lineup from hundreds of submissions, balancing nostalgic looks at Rails' 18-year journey with cutting-edge technical content. You'll hear why Philadelphia's walkable layout, incredible food scene (Reading Terminal Market gets particular pr...
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  Episode 50 - Adam Fortuna 20.05.2025 36min

  Swimming against the current sometimes leads to unexpected treasures. In this fascinating conversation, Adam Fortuna reveals how migrating Hardcover—a social network for readers with 30,000 users—from Next.js back to Ruby on Rails delivered surprising performance improvements and development simplicity. The journey begins with Adam explaining how Hardcover originated as a response to Goodreads shutting down their API. As a longtime Rails developer who initially chose Next.js for its server-s...
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  Episode 49 - Radan Skoric 01.04.2025 35min

  What happens when a seasoned Rails developer with 17 years of experience decides to document their journey learning Hotwire? Radan Skorić joins us to discuss his ebook "Master Hotwire" and the fascinating parallels between writing and coding. Unlike most tutorials that start from ground zero, Radan's approach assumes you already know Rails—because that was his experience when learning Hotwire. "When I was picking up Hotwire, I had tons of Rails experience. I've just not done Hotwire," he exp...
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  Episode 48 - Adam Wathan 18.03.2025 33min

  Join us as we unravel the inspiring journey of Tailwind CSS with its creator, Adam Wathan. From its inception in 2017 as an open-source CSS framework to becoming a major player in web design, Tailwind has recently undergone a significant rebranding with the launch of Tailwind Plus. This episode provides listeners with insights into Adam's strategic choices, including the reasoning behind merging Tailwind UI into the broader Tailwind ecosystem. Discover the challenges and outcomes of ba...