Code and the Coding Coders who Code it

Your database is slow, your Sentry is screaming, and the backlog is full of “we’ll fix it later.” What if an AI agent handled the boring but high-impact work while you slept and just opened a clean pull request for review the next morning? We’re joined by Mike Coutermarsh, a software engineer who helped build GitHub Actions and later left GitHub for PlanetScale. We talk candidly about the trade-of...

React made a lot of us feel powerful, then maintenance made a lot of us feel tired. Drew Bragg sits down with Delaney Gillilan, creator of Datastar, to argue for a different kind of “modern web” one that keeps the browser’s strengths front and center and keeps your app logic where it belongs: on the server. If you’ve ever looked at your dependency graph and wondered how you got here, this conversa...

What if the most useful software in your life isn’t a product, but something you built for yourself in an evening? That’s the spark for this conversation with Travis Dockter, a Rails developer and organizer of Blast Off Rails, where we dig into how AI turns personal ideas into working tools—fast. From a “house health” app that scores chores to a suite of single-user utilities, we break down what’s...

What if you could keep Rails pages fast, accessible, and SEO‑friendly, yet still get modern interactivity without shipping a mountain of JavaScript? We sit down with Cameron Dutro to unpack Live Component, a server‑first approach that breathes life into ViewComponent by treating state as data, rendering on the server, and morphing the DOM with Hotwire. No fragile ID wiring. No React by default. Ju...

Rails upgrades don’t have to feel like crossing a minefield. We sit down with Ernesto, founder and CTO of FastRuby and Ombu Labs, to unpack a pragmatic path from legacy Rails to Rails 8.1 and how AI can accelerate the work without sacrificing quality. From Ruby 4.0 landing over the holidays to a near-release of RubyCritic 5.0, we dig into the tools, the traps, and the test-suite realities that mak...

What makes a small Ruby conference feel electric instead of ordinary? We unpack the craft behind Blue Ridge Ruby—why we chose a newly renovated, accessible venue, how a single-track format keeps the room together, and the little details that turn a meetup into a memory. From open lunches across Asheville to surprise sponsor moments, we share the thinking that goes into designing an event that cele...

What if AI could make your work more creative instead of more crowded? We sit down with Scott Werner to unpack a practical path for Ruby developers who want the leverage of AI without sacrificing taste, clarity, or joy. From agentic coding with Claude Code to context-rich tools like Tidewave, we walk through how better inputs—logs, DOM access, database state—turn generic suggestions into usable pl...

In this episode of C4, Andrew Mason and Rachael Wright-Munn join Drew to unpack recent controversies surrounding Ruby Central and its alleged takeover of Ruby Gems and Bundler. The trio delves into the timeline of events, conflicting narratives, communication failures, and the underlying security concerns. They address theories and facts, scrutinize the governance of Ruby Central, and discuss the...

Ruby core team member Aaron Patterson (tenderlove) takes us deep into the cutting edge of Ruby's performance frontier in this technical exploration of how one of the world's most beloved programming languages continues to evolve. At Shopify, Aaron works on two transformative projects: ZJIT, a method-based JIT compiler that builds on YJIT's success by optimizing register allocation t...

Marco Roth joins us to unveil Herb, his revolutionary toolchain for Rails views that's reshaping how we work with HTML and ERB. Having identified a critical gap in the Rails ecosystem—robust tooling for the view layer—Marco decided to build the solution himself, learning C along the way to create a parser with unparalleled cross-platform compatibility. Far from just another syntax checker, He...

The journey from circus performer to respected software developer isn't a common career path, but Aji Slater navigates it with the same thoughtful precision he applies to code. As a former Ringling Brothers clown who now leads development teams at ThoughtBot, Aji brings a refreshingly unique perspective to technical challenges and community contribution. Diving into his current work with a 12...

When Joe Masilotti scanned a conference badge QR code at RailsConf, he was immediately uncomfortable with how it added someone's phone number directly to his contacts. That friction point sparked the creation of Ruby Friends – an innovative app transforming how developers connect at conferences and meetups. In this illuminating conversation with Drew Bragg, Joe reveals how Ruby Friends provid...

The Ruby community's most recognizable podcast voices gather for a heartfelt discussion at the final RailsConf in Philadelphia, sharing wisdom that extends far beyond technical topics into the realm of human connection. From conquering social anxiety at conferences to building meaningful relationships in tech, this panel digs into what makes the Ruby community special. Drew Bragg of Code and...

When does a framework reach maturity? For Joel Hawksley, lead maintainer of GitHub's ViewComponent framework, the answer comes with the upcoming fourth major release – a milestone that marks not just new features, but a transition to long-term support mode. Joel takes us behind the scenes of his seven-year journey at GitHub, where an idea sketched on an airplane has evolved into a critical pa...

What happens when you put Rails in a browser? Vladimir Dementyev (Vova) is pushing WebAssembly to its limits by creating an interactive Rails playground that runs entirely client-side. This groundbreaking project aims to eliminate the frustrating installation barriers that often discourage newcomers from trying Ruby on Rails. "I asked myself the question - can I run Rails on WASM? And that&ap...

The last RailsConf ever is coming to Philadelphia this summer, and co-chair Chris Oliver joins us to pull back the curtain on what's sure to be a historic gathering for the Rails community. Chris reveals how the programming committee curated an exceptional lineup from hundreds of submissions, balancing nostalgic looks at Rails' 18-year journey with cutting-edge technical content. You&apo...

Swimming against the current sometimes leads to unexpected treasures. In this fascinating conversation, Adam Fortuna reveals how migrating Hardcover—a social network for readers with 30,000 users—from Next.js back to Ruby on Rails delivered surprising performance improvements and development simplicity. The journey begins with Adam explaining how Hardcover originated as a response to Goodreads shu...

What happens when a seasoned Rails developer with 17 years of experience decides to document their journey learning Hotwire? Radan Skorić joins us to discuss his ebook "Master Hotwire" and the fascinating parallels between writing and coding. Unlike most tutorials that start from ground zero, Radan's approach assumes you already know Rails—because that was his experience when learni...

Join us as we unravel the inspiring journey of Tailwind CSS with its creator, Adam Wathan. From its inception in 2017 as an open-source CSS framework to becoming a major player in web design, Tailwind has recently undergone a significant rebranding with the launch of Tailwind Plus. This episode provides listeners with insights into Adam's strategic choices, including the reasoning behind merg...

Join us for a fascinating episode where we explore the development of SaturnCI—a new and user-friendly Continuous Integration tool that arose from frustrations with existing solutions like CircleCI and GitHub Actions. Our guest, Jason Sweat, shares his passion for creating a platform that not only simplifies the user experience but actively incorporates feedback from early adopters. Through candid...

David Hill, the innovative mind behind "Ode to RailsConf" and a senior engineer at Simplify, invites us to explore his fascinating journey into the world of podcasting. Inspired by the final announcement of RailsConf, David crafted a platform to celebrate the cherished memories of the event while also providing himself with a bridge to manage social interactions more comfortably. With hi...

Stephen Margheim, a celebrated figure in the Ruby and Rails community, returns to unravel the fascinating intricacies of his latest project—writing a parser for SQLite's SQL dialect in Ruby. He shares his enlightening journey of translating complex SQL syntax, which at first seemed a simple endeavor but soon unfolded into a realm of deep learning and unexpected challenges. Alongside this, Ste...

What if you could scale your SaaS platforms effortlessly across diverse hosting services? Join us as we welcome Adam McCrea, the brilliant mind behind JudoScale, who takes us through his fascinating evolution from being a Rails developer to creating a cutting-edge autoscaling solution. Adam opens up about the technical challenges he faced while adapting JudoScale for platforms like Render, Fly, an...

What drives a seasoned developer from Taiwan to London, and how does one translate a passion for Ruby into groundbreaking projects? Hear from Stan Lo of Shopify's RubyDX team as he shares his captivating journey and his significant impact on the Ruby development landscape. From his essential work on the debug gem and IRB to his current efforts with the Sorbet type checker and Prism parser, St...

Cody Norman, an independent Ruby on Rails consultant and creator of SpotSquid, takes us on a fascinating journey through the intersection of technology and tattoo artistry. Discover how Cody transformed a traditionally paper-based industry into a tech-savvy environment, using customer feedback to tackle the unique challenges faced by tattoo artists and shop owners. With anecdotes from his tech con...