The Bike Shed

Joël talks with fellow thoughtboter Fritz Meissner about the thinking process behind his latest kata project and the vast world of coding problems. Fritz explains why he developed the noisy animals kata and how it helped to better understand and streamline his code, the best ways to break down conditionals and how to clean them up efficiently within your workflow, as well as knowing where the limits of improvement are in each project you work on. — Refine your conditional logic technique with a copy of 99 Bottles of OOP and then test your skills with Fritz’s Noisy Animals Kata. Compare notes with Joël and Fritz to see how you stack up once you’re done! Listen to Joël’s RailsConf talk The Math Every Programmer Needs or check out some previous episodes for a refresher on some of the logic and math topics discussed in this show - Ep 398 - Ep 353 - Ep 418 - Ep 428 If you’d like to contact Fritz about his Kata or anything else programming related he can be found via LinkedIn Your host for this episode has been thoughtbot’s own Joël Quenneville. If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website. Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@bikeshed.fm This has been a thoughtbot podcast. Stay up to date by following us on social media - YouTube - LinkedIn - Mastodon - Instagram © 2025 thoughtbot, inc.Support The Bike Shed

Joël is joined by fellow thoughtboter Aji Slater as they discuss their previous experiences in designing content for workshops. Learn how to best structure your workshop for an audience, the benefits of a workshop over a talk and vice versa, as well as how to tackle the different hurdles your audience might face when working through your presentation. — Try your hand at Joël’s recommendation of visualising your Git Branching. You can watch Ali’s Enigma Machine workshop here, Or connect with him via LinkedIn Your host for this episode has been Joël Quenneville. If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website. Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@bikeshed.fm This has been a thoughtbot podcast. Stay up to date by following us on social media - YouTube - LinkedIn - Mastodon - Instagram © 2025 thoughtbot, inc.Support The Bike Shed

Happy New Year! Reflect on 2024 with insightful moments as Joël and Stephanie share personal growth and the importance of stepping outside comfort zones. They discuss intriguing programming challenges, such as navigating 'nil' values and their experiences at RubyConf and RailsConf. The hosts reminisce about their favorite episodes and creative endeavors, including unique book cover choices. Finally, they identify key reading influences that shaped their projects and look forward to new aspirations for 2025.

Steve Polito, a ThoughtBotter and creator of the innovative podcast player Botcasts, joins to discuss his latest GitHub project. He shares insights into the development of Botcasts and its integration with Hotwire, emphasizing the importance of user-friendly design. Listeners learn about his journey navigating Hotwire tutorials and the unique features that enhance podcast listening. Plus, a fun anecdote about a quirky holiday gift exchange adds a lighthearted touch to the conversation!

Join Joël and Stephanie as they dive into the art of managing focus during the holiday season. They explore the difference between coding time and thinking time, offering strategies to minimize interruptions and manage tasks effectively. Discover the complexities of global time zones and their quirky impacts on scheduling. The duo also shares personal insights on environmental sounds that enhance concentration and the benefits of taking micro breaks, including the Pomodoro technique, to boost productivity.

Joël and Stephanie go back to fundamentals as they pick apart some recent conversations they’ve been having around the office. Together they discuss the advantages of GraphQL over a REST API, how they utilise JSONB over a regular column or table, and the use-cases for and against a frontend framework like React. But what’s the theme that ties all these conversations together? — The article mentioned in this episode was Why I’m over GraphQL Your hosts for this episode have been thoughtbot’s own Stephanie Minn and Joël Quenneville. If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website. Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@bikeshed.fm This has been a thoughtbot podcast. Stay up to date by following us on social media - LinkedIn - Mastodon - Instagram © 2024 thoughtbot, inc.Support The Bike Shed

One of the most challenging things about starting out as a developer is how much you need to master all at once. And with so much to learn, it can be difficult for experts to guide fresh developers and advise them on where to focus first. Luckily, some skills will always be useful, no matter what language you’re coding in. In today’s episode, Stephanie and Joël tackle this topic by unpacking several key evergreen skills that will always be valuable, from reading error messages to deciphering a stack trace. They break down how new-ish developers can start acquiring these skills, key obstacles they’re likely to encounter, and how to ask for help when you hit a block. Their conversation covers the ins and outs of debugging, how to feel comfortable in your editor as a new developer, the art of asking for help, and much more. They also share plenty of valuable tips to help you on your journey – including one that will help you commit more frequently. Tune in now to hear it all! Key Points From This Episode: Stephanie’s time at the Ruby Conference in Chicago. The challenges of advising new-ish developers as an expert. Broad evergreen skills that are always valuable to learn. Tips on mastering debugging as a core skill. How to improve your ability to read error messages. Our approach to resolving errors and isolating what is wrong. Advice for learning to read a stack trace (even though it’s intimidating). Strategies for fixing different types of bugs. The value of editor mastery and version history. Tips on how to commit more frequently as a new developer. Learning to ask for help when you hit a block. The art of structuring your questions when asking for help. Breaking down large tasks into smaller sections. Learning to find focus as a new developer. Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: What technologies should I learn? Debugging blog post series Asking about solutions rather than problems The Bike Shed Joël Quenneville on LinkedIn Joël Quenneville on X Support The Bike Shed Mailtrap [WorkOS](workos.com/)Support The Bike Shed

Discover how tests can do more than identify bugs—they can act as living documentation that evolves with your code. The hosts explore innovative uses of tests in enhancing team collaboration and code readability, crucial for smooth project handoffs. Learn about balancing comprehensive coverage with practicality, and the importance of accountability in code reviews. Dive into techniques for improving test suite readability, and see how retrofitting tests can reveal hidden edge cases in legacy code. Transform your testing approach and empower your development process!

Impersonation features in software development can be double-edged swords. The hosts share insights on how these tools assist with debugging but highlight significant security concerns. They discuss the implications of needing impersonation as a symptom of poor admin tooling and suggest better alternatives. The conversation also dives into the importance of clear logging to prevent misuse. Personal anecdotes about health insurance and productivity tools add a delightful touch, making complex topics more relatable.

Delve into the intricacies of software rewrites, exploring when and why they might be necessary. Discover the challenges tied to legacy code, from potential data loss to old bugs reemerging. Learn about balancing business value with developer satisfaction. The conversation also emphasizes the importance of incremental changes over complete rewrites. Plus, hear best practices for testing in both Capybara and React, focusing on accessibility and pragmatic risk management. Get insights that could save your team time and effort!