Culture is a 50-day moving average
In a recent interview, Jason Fried said that culture is a 50-day moving average of our actions. That is incredibly freeing and compelling.
Using has_element?/3 for better LiveViewTest assertions
It's tempting to write `LiveViewTest` assertions that specify too much of our HTML. But that couples our tests to the implementation specifics. There's a better way: the `has_element?/3` helper can help us be specific without adding coupling.
A minimalist LiveView testing guide
Let's apply Sandi Metz's minimalist unit testing guide to LiveView. There are so many parallels and our tests benefit from Sandi's wisdom.
TDD Phoenix Update (Nov 2020)
An update on progress and changes to TDD Phoenix since August.
Testing LiveView talk and course
This year I presented a Testing LiveView talk at ElixirConf 2020. The video and my slides are now online.
Break apart your features into full-stack slices
Our communication practices can be very disrupting. Remote work has taught me to be more considerate of how I communicate with others. We should treat other people's time as we like ours to be treated.
Pay the cost up front. Don't distribute it to others.
Our communication practices can be very disrupting. Remote work has taught me to be more considerate of how I communicate with others. We should treat other people's time as we like ours to be treated.
Beyond basic modal editing. Using vim's command-line mode.
Most people learn vim's `normal`, `insert`, and `visual` modes. But they're only casually acquainted with vim's powerful Ex commands. Let's take a look at some.
TDD Phoenix — update on a work in progress
I've been writing a TDD Phoenix book. It's still a work in progress, but it's freely available online. This is a short update on progress and plans.
On Quitting Vim
Vim has a reputation for being hard to quit. But it turns out there are so many ways to get out of it — it's like vim wants you to quit. Let's look at a few.
Remote Tools and Tips in These Remote Times
Some tools and tips for remote collaboration from my experience being remote over the last two years.
Breaking Out of Ecto Schemas
With Ecto, 🎶 you _can_ always get what you want. And if you try sometimes, well, you might find, you can _select_ want you need 🎶.
Splitting a Commit
My workflow usually involves squashing many commits into a single one. But sometimes, the workflow calls for the opposite action -- splitting a single commit into many. This is how I do it.
5 Tips for More Helpful Code Reviews
Having your code reviewed can be daunting. But it can also be very helpful. As reviewers, we can make the difference. Here are five tips to make your code reviews more helpful to the author.
Faking External Services in Tests with Adapters
When faking external services in tests, start with something simple. I like having a public interface to adapters and having an in-memory adapter for tests. Let me show you an example.
Supercharge Your Elixir and Phoenix Navigation with vim-projectionist
Toggle between alternate files, edit files by type, and create files with templates — all with `vim-projectionist`. If you've never used it, you're in for a treat.
Finding the Time to Refactor
Many people ask, "How do I find time to refactor?" I think the question itself betrays a misunderstanding of refactoring. Let me tell you when I refactor.
Dumpster Diving through Dotfiles: Remote Git Branches
Don't let your git repo become a graveyard of stale branches. But how do you even know what branches are there? Let me introduce you to `git branches`.
Let's Not Misuse Refactoring
Refactoring has a specific meaning. When we misuse the word, we lose the ability to communicate an important concept. Let's revisit what refactoring is and what it is not.
Better domain modeling in Elixir with sum types
Sum types are a powerful domain modeling technique. Let’s look at how to use them to remove invalid states.
Dumpster Diving through Dotfiles: Better Git Logging
There are pearls to be found. Check out these git logs.
Back to basics: psql
The right tool for the right job, right? Well let me introduce you to psql.
Say no to more process, say yes to trust
Adding policies is easy. Removing them is difficult. Say no to more process. Trust your team instead.
A couple of Elixir videos on Upcase
Recently, thoughtbot decided to make Upcase free. It has a lot of great learning materials, especially when it comes to Rails, vim, test-driven development, and tmux.
Do you break your Elixir eggs on the big end or the little end?
From big-endian to little-endian through unsigned integers. A tale of two ends, and Elixir shines again.
Don't forget the silent step when you squash and merge
GitHub’s squash and merge button is great. But make sure to write a good commit message before you confirm those changes.
Is Elixir a scripting language?
Elixir is known for being a language made for building distributed applications that scale, are massively concurrent, and have self-healing properties. But is Elixir good enough for the mundane scripts of this world?
Write good commit messages by blaming others
To write good commit messages, you must read commit messages. And to read commit messages, you must use `git blame` effectively.
Long-lived processes in Elixir
Long-lived processes are everywhere in Elixir. Let’s look at why they’re needed and how to create them!
Build your own web framework in Elixir (video)
How to organize your functional code
When coming from object-oriented languages, I often hear people ask the question, “How do I organize my code? Modules are just bags of functions!”. That is a question I asked myself as well, but after using Elixir and Elm for a while, I have noticed that there is a principle of organization that I keep using and that I see in the wild. I like to think of it as the principle of attraction.
An introduction to concurrency in Elixir
Concurrency is a first-class citizen in the Elixir platform. The concurrency model is that of isolated, independent processes that share no memory and communicate via asynchronous message passing. In other words, a process can run concurrently without concern of others, and processes communicate with each other only via send-and-forget messages.
Tests as Counselors of Design
One of the benefits of tests is that they are the first piece of code that will interact with our application. As such, they can offer valuable insights into the application's complexity.
Elixir simple_one_for_one Supervisors
Supervision trees are awesome. For a while I was a bit confused as to how to use the simple_one_for_one
supervision strategy. Let’s look at it step by step by creating a simple
bank account from which we can deposit and withdraw money.
Tests as Tools for Understanding
When working on a feature, I often find pieces of code that I have not seen before. In order to better understand the class or method, I like to use tests as documentation and as a way to explore the code's functionality.