Updates from timchater RSS
-
09:35:57 pm on March 29, 2009 |
As my train heads back to Sheffield from Edinburgh it’s time for a brief reflection on Scotland on Rails 2009.
Looking towards the east coast
The conference
It was even better than 2008! Great job @alancfrancis, @mathie and @paulanthonywils on attracting so many top speakers.
US invasion
It was interesting to note that the vast majority of talks were delivered by speakers from across the pond. So here’s a rallying call to UK-based Rubyists (including me, of course): let’s follow the example of our cross-Atlantic fellows and submit some proposals next time!
TDD and BDD (and EDD and CDD)
Probably the biggest theme throughout the conference – exemplified by the four consecutive talks in the main room on the Friday afternoon – was the consensus on the importance of testing properly. In short: we developers should
- test all the time
- use BDD with an “outside-in” approach to drive app development, and adopt Cucumber
- stop using fixtures (and instead look towards using Object Daddy/Factory Girl/Machinist to generate objects)
Until next time
What a great few days in Scotland! Roll on next year’s conference…
-
11:30:41 pm on March 27, 2009 |
I write this from chilly Edinburgh. I’m here for the second Scotland on Rails conference, having very much enjoyed the inaugural event way back in 2008.
It’s been very enjoyable. Highlights from the first day have included ex-Rails core Marcel Molina’s reminiscences about the early days, Jim Weirich’s excellent talk about connascence, and a brilliantly-delivered talk about Cucumber from Joseph Wilk.
The conference has twice as many attendees as last year – partly, perhaps, because there’s to be no RailsConf Europe this year – but has kept its friendly feel. I’m looking forward to Day 2!
-
08:58:32 pm on March 4, 2009 |
It’s taken me a while, but I’ve finally joined the blogging world. Hurray for me! Hopefully I’ll get the hang of this WordPress thingy and personalise it.
