Three techniques to make your code for readable

Readable code is maintainable code. This article discusses best practices for writing readable code.

Better exception responses in Rails 5 API apps

Rails 5 has introduced better exception response format for API only apps. The post discusses new configuration provided in Rails 5.

Use file_fixture to access test files in Rails 5

Code Ruby like you build Lego (refactored)

This illustrates a way to chain functions and service objects in Ruby if ever you miss the | (pipe) operator from unix and/or Elixir. I changed the presentation after the feedback from different talks: Read more

Generating Sprite Images using Compass Rails Gem

Learn how to Create Sprite Images using Compass Rails Gem in Rails 4.2.5 to speed up your Rails 4.2.5 Apps.

ThreadPool: a Ruby antihero

Threading gets a bad wrap in Ruby - even still, you may be using thread pools everyday without even knowing it. Many of the most popular ruby gems use the concept of “pooling” to manage expensive resources. In this post, we’ll examine why thread pools are useful and take a test-driven approach to implementing one ourselves.

Reality: access to real-world entities

New reality gem provides access (through Wikipedia and Wikidata and other services) to real-life data. Its goal is to make entire world computable.

kramdown - markdown converter - update - v1.10 - released (now incl. strikethrough)

Hello, Via Vienna.html great news - kramdown v1.10 is out - thanks to Thomas Leitner - the author (from Vienna, Austria ;-) of the markdown converter in ruby. What’s news? Read more

Unicode Character Widths

Q: How do you determine how many terminal columns a string will take? A: It is not possible, because it is not standardized for every character! But you can achieve good results with EastAsianWidth.txt, Unicode’s general categories and other data. Read more

HOWTO access Amazon DynamoDB with Ruby

HOWTO access Amazon DynamoDB with Ruby. A guide to accessing the Amazon DynamoDB API with v2 of the official AWS SDK for Ruby. Setting up credentials, creating tables, adding items, fetching items, conditional writes, partial updates, scans, queries, secondary indexes, and running DynamoDB locally.

Spreadsheet Architect Gem Released!

Spreadsheet Architect makes it super easy to turn any ActiveRecord relation or plain ruby object array into a XLSX, ODS, or CSV spreadsheets. Generates columns from model ActiveRecord column_names or from a given array of ruby methods.

Removing duplicate builds on Travis CI

We made a simple alternative to travis-dedup when we had difficulty setting it up. This helps you stop duplicate builds from running on travis-ci.com. Its extremely simple to set up (3 steps) and we’ve got one of those nifty Deploy to Heroku buttons as well. Read more

A Customized Approach to HTTP Proxy Caching in Ruby

AcornCache is a Ruby HTTP proxy caching library that is lightweight, configurable and can be easily integrated with any Rack-based web application. AcornCache allows you to improve page load times and lighten the load on your server by allowing you to implement an in-memory cache shared by every client requesting a resource on your server. Please visit for further information.

Turn on Keepalive to Speed Up Rails 4.2.5 App

Why you need to turn the keepalive on to Speed Up Rails 4.2.5 App

Reencryptor Gem Released

Use this gem to migrate from legacy versions of attr_encrypted to a more secure attr_encrypted method. Initial release; more encryption schemes and flexibility to come. Reencryptor Gem Released

Control Groups (cgroups) for the Web?

The web platform lacks primitives that expose control over how and where CPU, GPU, and network resources are allocated. Do we need cgroups for the web?

Five Practices for Robust Ruby on Rails Applications

I’ve shared five simple practices I follow to make my Rails applications robust. It all comes down to failing early, loudly and often.

Migrations are versioned in Rails 5

Migrations are versioned from Rails 5 onwards. Read more

How To Automatically Change Port If Default Is In Use With Guard And Rails

This article describes two simple methods to automatically increment the port number if its in use.

Hyde Press- New Books -Jekyll Plugin Developer's Guide (Generators, Converters, etc.)

Hello, I’ve added a three new volumes to the Hyde Press Bookshelf: 1) Jekyll Installation Guide 2) Jekyll Deployment & Continuous Integration Guide 3) Jekyll Plugin Developer’s Guide Cheers. PS: What’s Jekyll? It’s a free static (web) site builder / generator in Ruby.

Rails 5 improves redirect_to :back with new redirect_back method

Rails 5 improves redirect_to :back with new redirect_back method Read more

Ruby Spaceship <=> Operator

Adhering to the law of trichotomy, the <=> operator (sometimes called the “Spaceship Operator”) works by comparing two elements and returning a -1, 0, or 1. While the original mathematical criteria applies to only real numbers, many programming languages implement the law of trichotomy as a general comparison between equivalent types. Ruby’s <=> operator can be a bit confusing but when understood, is very powerful.

Upgrading from Passenger 4.0.60 to 5.0.25

Upgrading Passenger improved the performance. From 2.4 seconds page load time to 1.7 seconds in Passenger 5.0.50. Learn how to Upgrade from Passenger 4.0.60 to 5.0.25

Clean Up Your Rails Helper File

Latest post from Jordan Maguire over at the TFG blog, cleaning up your rails helper file.

Using Custom Web Fonts in Rails 4.2.5 Apps

Learn how to use Custom Web Fonts in Rails 4.2.5 Apps