Conference abstracts

bio.md

Bio

I have been programming for about 10 years. 3 of those years I have been writing Ruby. Recently I have developed a deep interest in good software design, appropriate levels of testing, and other programming paradigms.

I am a consultant and (Ruby) instructor at Big Nerd Ranch. I am one of a handful of nerds that who works remotely full-time. I love working remotely, but it is not without its challenges! My wife and I own a dance studio where she does the teaching/dancing, and I greet the people. 😊

data-integrity.md

Confident Programming with Data Integrity

Fighting complexity in programming is hard. Every time we’re unsure about a value, we add conditional statements that determine how we proceed. These conditionals result in increased complexity and decreased confidence in our system. If only we could become more confident with the state of the system…

Hurrah! Data integrity can help build this confidence. By constraining our data, we can make some assumptions about the state of the system even as it grows in complexity. I'll explain why properly constraining your data is important and show you how to practically and intelligently add constraints to your data. I'll even toss in some real world examples!

Gone are the days of guarding against potentially nil values. Out with orphaned and duplicate records! Join me as we program with confidence and integrity!

Abstract

Fighting complexity in programming is hard. When you're unsure about a value, you add conditionals in turn increasing complexity and eroding confidence. Data integrity restores lost confidence! Gone are the days of guarding against potentially nil values. Out with orphaned and duplicate records! Join me as we program with confidence and integrity!

Details

The software we write becomes legacy as soon as it is shipped. It is critical that we develop habits that encourage the building of software that will stand the test of time. A significant source of bugs in software is unexpected state. Data integrity reduces the surface area of edges cases by enforcing certain absolutes about the application's state. Data integrity is one of many good habits that developers should master in order to increase confidence in the software they create.

In this talk I make a case for why adding constraints to an application's database makes it easier to reason about the state of the system. Avdi Grimm refers to this as "confident programming". I really like the implication, and it is especially important in the dynamic nature of Ruby. I will illustrate how data integrity is introduced to a web application (using Rails as an example), and why validations do not cut it as data integrity. The audience should leave with an understanding of the difference in database constraints and data model validations and when it is appropriate to use each. They should also be provoked to consider implementing it in their applications.

Pitch

Data integrity is particularly close to home for me. I have been working on a legacy application for about 2 years. The single largest source of bugs in the application is data getting into unexpected state. Some of the data enters the application via direct database insertions, so we can't vet it in application code. This has created a deep conviction in me that as much constraint as possible should be enforced at the data layer. The constraints that we've introduced over time have without a doubt lead to fewer state-related bugs. I am very excited for the opportunity to share this enthusiasm with the Rails Conf attendees! Thank you for considering me for the conference.

experience.md

Experience

As an instructor at Big Nerd Ranch, we run week-long "bootcamps" filled with lectures and hands-on exercises. In addition to lecturing in class, I've had opportunity to present a number of internal talks to team ranging from technical to "softer" consultant-related subjects.

I have also been given the chance to speak publicly on a couple occasions:

• Swift at NSHuntsville - http://iamvery.com/2014/08/26/swift-at-nshuntsville.html
• Pairing with tmux - http://iamvery.com/2014/01/20/pairing-with-tmux.html

It has been a personal goal for some time to break onto the conference scene. Having attended Ancient City Ruby in 2013, I could hardly think of a better event to make my debut! I am very (get it?) excited for the opportunity to speak, and I appreciate the opportunity and consideration.

swift.md

Rubyist meets Swift

There are a lot of reasons I love Ruby. It makes me a happy programmer. Apple recently released its latest programming language into the wild, Swift. Swift is an object oriented-programming language with a functional personality.

I will give you the whirlwind tour of what I have learned in my dabbling with the language. We will compare constructs in Swift to similar implementations in Ruby and contrast the differences. We’re talking language and syntax here, the good stuff. No need to bring your iOS or Cocoa chops 😉. Perhaps we have established a trajectory to find happiness developing native applications as well?

Data Integrity

I think this first paragraph is good. My small rewrite (take this with a grain of salt) looks like:

As programmers, we fight complexity on a daily basis. Conditional statements are
a commonly implemented tool for fighting this complexity. However, they also
increase the complexity of the system. Every time we’re unsure about a value,
we add a condition to decide how to proceed. If only we could become more confident with the state of
the system…

I really like the title @strukturedkaos suggested. I suggest a tweak to it, Confident Programming with Data Integrity

The second paragraph doesn't seem well defined. Specifically, these two sentences can use a little work:

By constraining our data, we can make some assumptions about the state of the system. Gone are the
days of guarding potentially nil values. Out with orphaned and duplicate records!

re: "life". Maybe data is more akin to the "blood", but now it sounds scary :)

Swift

I think this one is well written and I don't see anything I would change.

Summary

If I had to choose a talk to attend, I would choose the 'Data Integrity' talk.

@strukturedkaos I friggen' love the rewrite! Sort of feel bad to steal it out right... 😝 (but that won't stop me)

@tdouce ty for your input! 😄😍💗

Ideas to rework experience doc

• highlight teaching experience
• highlight small speaking experience
• spin lack of conference talks as "have not had the opportunity yet, but very excited!"