The Power of Community in Learning Ruby on Rails — Agency of Learning's Role in Shaping Developer Careers

In this episode of Ruby for All, Andrew and Julie welcome special guests, James Garcia, Eric Halverson, and Caleb Mitchell, all part of The Agency of Learning run by Dave Paola. Today, they share their unique journeys into software development, ranging from music to technical support backgrounds, and their involvement in The Agency of Learning.  They discuss the value of the Ruby community, the joy of coding in Ruby, and the complexities of keeping up with Rails in a fast-paced tech environment. The conversation also touches on the importance of community in learning and how to get involved in the Ruby ecosystem, wrapping up with practical advice on handling race conditions in coding projects. Press download now to hear more! 

[00:00:13] Julie wonders if Andrew launched his feature and he mentions a setback due to architectural challenges. Julie relates to his issues sharing she faced a race condition blocking a release. 

[00:01:24] Julie mentions the Ruby for All Book Club and three guests joining them, who are a part of that club, where they are reading, The Well-Grounded Rubyist. 

[00:02:02] Eric, Caleb, and James introduce themselves and talk about their backgrounds. 

[00:05:36] What is The Agency of Learning? Eric shares his view and experience as an amazing ride, and James describes it as a “finishing school” for new programmers.

[00:09:17] Andrew inquires about the unique challenges faced by Caleb due to his music background. Caleb discusses the time management challenges of balancing music and programming. 

[00:11:41] Julie’s interested to understand the guests’ experiences and challenges at The Agency of Learning. Caleb talks about the challenges of working with large, preexisting codebase. James adds to Caleb’s points, discussing the learning experiences with different production apps. 

[00:13:50] Andrew asks Julie about her experience working for Ruby for Good projects, and she expresses her enthusiasm for Ruby for Good. Andrew tells us what he did with contributing and praises Ruby for Good and encourages listeners to contribute. 

[00:14:43] Eric tells us about his current career position, and he describes a personal existential crisis following an intense project for a Rails conference, which led to a period of burnout and a shift in focus back to Ruby fundamentals. 

[00:18:08] Eric shares advice from Cody Norman, a lead at The Agency of Learning, about pursuing what inspires you. Andrew relates to Eric’s return to fundamentals and shares a perspective on learning Rails and Ruby.

[00:19:41] Andrew asks about the hardest part of learning Rails in 2023. James discusses the challenge of keeping up with front-end updates in Rails, specifically Hotwire and Turbo Drive.  Caleb talks about the challenge of focusing learning on an era with abundant resources and highlights Launch School and The Odin Project as helpful resources. Eric reflects on the complexity of Rails and strategies learning it. 

[00:24:21] Julie asks the guests if they would recommend Rails to others or change their own journey. Caleb states his positive experience with Ruby and Rails, suggesting it as a good starting point.  James enjoys Rails and believes it helped him understand programming fundamentals, Eric speaks highly of Ruby and Rails and values the community. 

[00:27:15] Julie mentions that Ruby’s appeal kept her in software engineering and would recommend it as a first language. Andrew reflects on advising his brother on programming languages, highlighting the clarity Ruby brought him after learning Java.

[00:29:20] Eric credits Julie for highlighting the importance of community in learning to program and James emphasizes reaching out for help in the Ruby community, praising its supportive nature. 

[00:30:53] Andrew asks for advice on how to join the Ruby community.  James tells us to connect through Twitter, Discord, and conferences. Caleb recommends reaching out to study or work with others, leading to lasting relationships. Eric started with podcasts, moved to Twitter, then conferences.

[00:34:09] Julie shares two Discord groups for joining the Ruby community: The Ruby Learning Center and the GoRails Discord. 

[00:34:24] Find out where you can follow Eric, Caleb, and James online. 

[00:35:26] Andrew explains and gives an example of a race condition, since Julie had one at work that was driving her crazy.  

Panelists:

Andrew Mason

Julie J.

Guests:

James Garcia

Eric Halverson

Caleb Mitchell

Sponsors:

Honeybadger

GoRails