Anyone who's used Ruby has seen this message: r.rb:1:in `name': wrong number of arguments (3 for 2) (ArgumentError) This particular error has been driving me nuts for years. It's just so unnecessarily difficult to interpret — especially if Ruby's not the only language you use. I never remember which number is which. Compare to Python: TypeError: … Continue reading Goodbye “X for Y”: the cryptic Ruby error is becoming friendlier
Infographic: OS X El Capitan License in Plain English
Shortly after I posted OS X El Capitan License in Plain English, I received an email from Bogdan Rauta, a Romanian infographic designer. He volunteered to create an infographic as part of a new project, Infographic Monster News. His idea is to report current news stories in the form of infographics. I'd say he's off to a … Continue reading Infographic: OS X El Capitan License in Plain English
OS X El Capitan License: in Plain English
I decided to upgrade my Mac to El Capitan, but my computer said, on one condition: I must "carefully" read and agree with something. It even provided a tiny cozy display window for viewing it: And so I did what anyone else would: I cleared my afternoon schedule and got right down to business; reading, carefully, the entire document. It … Continue reading OS X El Capitan License: in Plain English
git commit –amend: Have Your Cake and Eat it Too
For a lot of us, version control does two things which are contradictory: it keeps checkpoints as we work so we can easily roll back, and wraps up our work into a tidy package for others to use. git commit --amend is one tool that solves this. It will "open up" the previous commit, adding staged … Continue reading git commit –amend: Have Your Cake and Eat it Too
A Benefit of Rails: Surrogate Keys
Today I helped a client wrestle with a database task which concluded: . . . We'll have to watch out inventing new "fake" customers because one day there may be a real customer with our made up ID 😦 This is a problem in lots of apps, but not in Rails. Rails enforces the "best … Continue reading A Benefit of Rails: Surrogate Keys
Self-validating Ruby objects with ActiveModel Validations
I'm importing lots of CSV restaurant inspection data with Ruby, and I need to make sure the cleaned up data matches the spec. For example, a violation must have a business_id and date. It can optionally have a code and description. My goal was to be able to write a class like this: ...and it would … Continue reading Self-validating Ruby objects with ActiveModel Validations
The problem with packaging in Python
Excellent article. We got to this situation because of the changing nature of writing software, and how we deploy. Our standards have risen, and packaging (and tooling in general) takes on ever greater importance. But we don't have to theorize and invent paradigms from scratch. A few other languages have solved this. Ruby is the … Continue reading The problem with packaging in Python
Python project organization, circa early 2015
The best, current guides I've found Python Packaging Authority's tutorial and sample project Cookie Cutter project templating system, specifically cookiecutter-pypackage Open Sourcing a Python Project the Right Way, and Supercharge Your Python Developers by Jeff Knupp It's hard to find current best practices for organizing a reusable python package. I'm starting a new project to get the world's … Continue reading Python project organization, circa early 2015
Degrees of freedom: Four valid ways to write degrees Fahrenheit in HTML
I was working on my startup's food safety score web app, writing code to clean up imported text like, DELI DISPLAY COOLER HOLDING CREAM CAKE AT 44.6F BUT LOWER CORNER OF UNIT HOLDING FOODS @ 39F We decided to make this as readable as possible without changing the content. And so, the finished text should have improved capitalization, punctuation, … Continue reading Degrees of freedom: Four valid ways to write degrees Fahrenheit in HTML
Test Driven Devops
I like to apply Test Driven Development to my sysadmin work. For example, every time I add a new redirect to a web server configuration I want to make sure I haven't broken anything else. Further, I want my SSL configurations proactively checked daily for any possible error. I use Ruby RSpec and write tests … Continue reading Test Driven Devops
