Blue Ridge Ruby 2023 Recap
Blue Ridge Ruby 2023 π
Blue Ridge Ruby recently wrapped up in Asheville, North Carolina. This post is not intended as a review of any of the talks, but to highlight the variety of great work from all involved. I hope you’ll seek out the full videos of all the sessions that interest you once they are available.
Day 1 π
Welcome π
Jeremy Smith gave an intro that I hope to see expanded into a full conference talk one day. Maybe after he’s not so busy organizing a conference.
![Jeremy Smith at Blue Ridge Ruby](https://kevinjmurphy.com/img/blue_ridge_ruby_jeremy_smith.jpg)
Enough Coverage To Beat The Band π
I had the pleasure to bring the “Ruby’s Got You Covered” world tour to Asheville. This was my first time sharing this with an in-person audience.
Empathetic Pair Programming with Nonviolent Communication π
Stephanie Minn shared a way we can reframe our mindsets and statements in pairing situations and beyond. We reviewed observations, feelings, needs, and requests within the NVC (Nonviolent Communication) framework.
![Stephanie Minn at Blue Ridge Ruby](https://kevinjmurphy.com/img/blue_ridge_ruby_stephanie_minn.jpg)
Forecasting the Future: An Introduction to Machine Learning for Weather Prediction in Native Ruby π
Landon Gray gave us an appreciation for all the work that goes in to prepare, manipulate, and clean the training data used in machine learning models.
![Landon Gray at Blue Ridge Ruby](https://kevinjmurphy.com/img/blue_ridge_ruby_landon_gray.jpg)
Who Wants To Be A Ruby Engineer? π
Drew Bragg, to the surprise of everyone only paying attention to the schedule on the website, hosted a small version of his popular game show after lunch.
![Drew Bragg at Blue Ridge Ruby](https://kevinjmurphy.com/img/blue_ridge_ruby_drew_bragg.jpg)
RSpec: The Bad Parts π
Caleb Hearth demonstrated how we can use test structures that promote obviousness. Test examples should show what’s being tested and how it is being used.
![Caleb Hearth at Blue Ridge Ruby](https://kevinjmurphy.com/img/blue_ridge_ruby_caleb_hearth.jpeg)
Maintenance Matters: Maintaining Your Rails App and Your Sanity π
Annie Kiley shared 10 suggestions to keep maintenance at the forefront of your application development process. I liked their ethos to make it easier to do the better thing, and that standards are not standards unless they’re enforced.
![Annie Kiley at Blue Ridge Ruby](https://kevinjmurphy.com/img/blue_ridge_ruby_annie_kiley.jpg)
Making Ruby Fast(er) π
Kevin Menard ended the day of talks, just as a different Kevin started them. This talk starts with a discussion on Instruction Set Architectures (ISA) on silicon and transitions to YARV optimizations of Ruby code on a virtual machine (VM). Interpreters, parsers, and compilers - oh my!
![Kevin Menard at Blue Ridge Ruby](https://kevinjmurphy.com/img/blue_ridge_ruby_kevin_menard.jpg)
Day 2 π
Whatβs your type? Generating type signatures with Sorbet and Tapioca π
Emily Samp reflected on her reflection experience. Through this we learned how Tapioca generates RBI files for Sorbet to use. Give this one a watch for her beautiful slide design and expert animations and transitions.
![Emily Samp at Blue Ridge Ruby](https://kevinjmurphy.com/img/blue_ridge_ruby_emily_samp.jpg)
Digital Identity or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Web3 π
Thomas Carr discussed the concept of a self-sovereign identity. This enables a user to manage their own data.
![Thomas Carr at Blue Ridge Ruby](https://kevinjmurphy.com/img/blue_ridge_ruby_thomas_carr.jpg)
Go Pro with POROs π
Ifat Ribon discussed encapsulation, clarity and simplicity. Starting with a primer on database wrappers and modules, we moved into exploring different patterns where Plain Old Ruby Objects (POROs) apply: services, API wrappers, virtual domain models, and request/presentation objects.
![Ifat Ribon at Blue Ridge Ruby](https://kevinjmurphy.com/img/blue_ridge_ruby_ifat_ribon.jpg)
Lightning Talks π
Fishing, stewardship, CLI tools for generating licenses and CI results, Rails tips, hiring, 1:1s with managers, and accessibility were just a few of the topics covered in these five minute sessions.
How can I move forward when I donβt know where I want to go? π
Mo OβConnor introduced tools to guide decisions on moving forward. Individual Development Plans, applying/interviewing, somatics, pros/cons lists, mentorship, and building relationships were the topics covered.
![Mo O'Connor at Blue Ridge Ruby](https://kevinjmurphy.com/img/blue_ridge_ruby_mo_oconnor.jpg)
Appreciation π
Thank you to Jeremy Smith for putting this idea into the world and making it a reality.
Thank you to Mark Locklear, Karl McCollester, and Joe Peck for helping to organize.
Thank you to the entire Blue Ridge Ruby Team:
- Mark Locklear
- Joe Peck
- Karl McCollester
- Johnathon Wright
- Bryce Senz
- Daniel Bradley
- Jeremy Smith
- Kristy Smith
- Porter Smith
- Jade Smith
- Thomas Carr
- Jay Sanders
Thank you to the sponsors for supporting a fledgling event. Particular thanks to Pubmark for helping support my participation.
Thank you to everyone who I met there. A conference doesn’t work unless people show up, and you all made it the event it became. Thanks to everyone for the kind words about my talk. I really appreciate it. Speaking is a lot of work - hearing from people afterwards is what makes it worth it.
Congrats Jeremy; you did it.
![Jeremy Smith closing Blue Ridge Ruby](https://kevinjmurphy.com/img/blue_ridge_ruby_jeremy_smith_close.jpg)