Justin Searls - The Empowered Programmer - Rails World 2024

Rails enables solo developers to build ambitious features through its comprehensive toolset and conventions while keeping maintenance burden low

Focus on tackling high-risk features early rather than deferring them - this helps reduce uncertainty and technical risk as the project progresses

Email-based authentication can be simpler and more reliable than passwords/OAuth for many applications - Rails makes this easy to implement

Import maps in Rails 7 allow using JavaScript modules directly without build steps, reducing complexity and maintenance overhead

Use Playwright instead of Selenium for system tests to avoid flaky tests and get better performance

Active Storage makes handling file uploads and processing manageable, even for complex use cases like video

Being opinionated in design decisions and saying “no” to unnecessary features leads to better, more maintainable software

Tailwind CSS helps make styling maintainable through utility classes and constraints

Cache invalidation can be handled elegantly through touch: true on belongs_to associations

The empowered programmer exhibits key traits:

• Courage to slow down when needed
• Resilience in tackling challenges
• Discipline in maintaining focus
• Efficiency in implementation
• Dexterity in using tools
• Meticulousness in execution