
RailsConf 2020 Couch Edition - bdcravens
https://railsconf.com/
======
Pmop
I started learning Ruby and Ruby on Rails in February, as a requirement of
what would be my first job in industry (then COVID came and everyone got
fired). I'm loving both so far, had previous experiences with Java/Spring and
Python/Flask/Django, I like Ruby on Rails better. Convention over
configuration. Mature and beautiful testing with RSpec. Beautiful Ruby syntax.
Sane conventions. You can throw in Slim templating engine, which makes working
with markup a delightful experience. Wonderful community, I could go on and
on.

I hope that RoR stays strong amidst the current React/SPA framework/Node fad.

~~~
nerdwaller
> I hope that RoR stays strong amidst the current React/SPA framework/Node
> fad.

Fortunately, rails has solid support for API only rails apps. Jbuilder is
pretty great. In my experience, there’s still nothing in the node ecosystem
that rivals ActiveRecord’s maturity.

~~~
skunkworker
I've left the jbuilder/rabl train a while ago for ActiveModelSerializers and
more recently for Netflix's fast_jsonapi. I used to like the other more
document-based approaches, but after awhile I got tired of having json
rendering take longer than the SQL calls. Now I can get sub millisecond view
rendering while still using ruby and rails.

[https://github.com/Netflix/fast_jsonapi](https://github.com/Netflix/fast_jsonapi)

~~~
gmcabrita
FYI, folks have forked fast_jsonapi to [https://github.com/fast-
jsonapi/fast_jsonapi](https://github.com/fast-jsonapi/fast_jsonapi) as the
Netflix repository has been mostly inactive recently.

~~~
skunkworker
Thanks for that updated link, I first saw it through the netflix repo but
bundler on my project pulled from that more recent repo and I got the repos
confused.

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retrac98
Good to see. Rails is still a fantastic framework for building web apps in
2020.

~~~
joelbluminator
Shhh you're gonna upset all the Elixir / Golang / Node people

~~~
cultofmetatron
Am a phoenix/node developer. not offended.

Rails certainly has its strengths. If speed to knock out a working app was my
#1 prereq, rails has better abstractions and drop-in libraries to get
something off the groud fast. Its probably your best bet for knocking out a
CRUD mvp.

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mhw
Related: Railsconf 2020 Virtual Hallway -
[https://www.mikeperham.com/2020/04/29/railsconf-2020-virtual...](https://www.mikeperham.com/2020/04/29/railsconf-2020-virtual-
hallway/)

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ksec
I really really hoped DHH has some news on Hey.com and New Rails FrontEnd they
said they were making. Unfortunately none of those were ready due to COVID.

Was also expecting at least one talk on StimulusReflex [1] as well. Turns out
there aren't any. I thought it was one of the biggest thing for Rails in a
long time.

[1]
[https://github.com/hopsoft/stimulus_re…](https://github.com/hopsoft/stimulus_re…)

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masonhensley
I watched a few of the videos, booked marked some more. Well done.

What are people’s thoughts on remote conferences moving forward?

~~~
necubi
I've recently spoken at two conferences that were converted from on-site to
virtual, and my conclusion is that it's not worth it. Certainly as a speaker,
it's pretty unpleasant talking for an hour into my webcam without any audience
feedback.

But the bigger issue is that conferences are (for me, and I gather for a lot
of people) mostly about the "hallway track," not the official talks. I get a
lot more value for talking to people at lunch and after talks than I do from
the presentations themselves. That's currently totally missing from the online
conference platforms I've used, rendering the whole thing kind of pointless. I
might as well just record my talk and put it on youtube; the conference itself
it adding little value aside from curation.

I don't think there will be any onsite conferences for the next year, which is
a shame. Hopefully they will return at some point.

~~~
BerkhanBerkdemi
This is not just an issue of virtual conferences but also online college
classes. Explaining itself over a Zoom conference is sadly not the same
experience you would get face to face.

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dmix
Anyone know what the DHH talk is about? The description is pretty vague.

~~~
stevebmark
It's a generic interview, some general ideas on software engineering and Rails
maintenance. Probably a good watch if you enjoy DHH's views on software and
work. Also some talk about his new email service, which I can't wait for,
because no one I've met who has used Basecamp thinks Basecamp a good or well
designed product. It's baffling to me DHH keeps upholding Basecamp as a
"majestic monolith"

~~~
joelbluminator
Not sure I follow, do you think Basecamp is a bad product or is it a badly
engineered product according to you? It's getting pretty good reviews as far
as I can see, and it's not like Basecamp are pouring millions into marketing.

~~~
stevebmark
It's a bad product according to me and everyone I have worked with
professionally who has used it. Sample size of maybe 15 opinions.

I suspect it's badly engineered because of how horrific the mobile experience
is, since they use Rails for everything instead of going API first and
building native mobile. But I don't think the engineering matters quite as
much because it's such a small product with a small surface area. I just wish
a small, bad product wasn't touted as the "majestic monolith," because we have
nothing to learn from it.

~~~
davidivadavid
Sounds like the product wasn't right for your use case. Basecamp is a small
product, but it's very well designed for its main use case (smallish agency-
type company doing simple task based work, requiring relatively little project
management). As mentioned above, the product gets pretty good reviews in
general.

