My Ruby Story

Panel: Charles Max Wood Guest: Victor Shepelev This week on My Ruby Story, Charles talks with Victor Shepelev who is a Ruby programmer and also a poet. He works for Verbit.ai and lives in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Chuck and Victor talk about his background, how Victor got into Ruby, and his latest projects. In particular, we dive pretty deep on: 1:13 – Chuck: Episode 367 – check it out! 1:37 – Background? 1:42 – Living in Ukraine. 2:08 – Chuck: How did you get into programming? 2:18 – Victor: I broke my leg and very bored. In ‘85-‘86 and I was gaming. Since then I got into programming and have been in it for 20 years. 3:20 – Chuck: Prince of Persia. 3:26 – Chuck: What made you stick with programming? 3:34 – Victor: I think it was magically and exotic. It still fascinates me. 4:03 – Chuck: How did you get into Ruby? 4:15 – Victor: There are great several programming attitudes – but I belong to the one that just write texts that expose the meanings. I like the text. I am a poet. When I write in Ruby (not l

Panel: Charles Max Wood Guest: Dr. Neil Brown This week on My Ruby Story, Charles talks with Dr. Neil Brown who is a researcher. He helps people teach “how to program” more effectively and efficiently. Check out his social media pages and his research via the web. Chuck and Neil talk about his research among other topics. In particular, we dive pretty deep on: 0:52 – Chuck: We are talking with Neil Brown. 1:05 – Chuck: I’ve always wanted to go to London! Let’s dive in and talk about you and how you got into all of this stuff. 1:40 – Neil: I was in primary/elementary school and sometime there I went to my dad and I asked him how are these games made? He gave me a book. 3:12 – Chuck: What are some things that you are researching? 3:24 – Neil answers the question. 5:24 – Chuck: How do you know what to look into and how do you test your hypotheses? There is some science there. 5:45 – Neil: We have a large data collection. 6:07 – Chuck: You have your own ideas linked to Java? 6:15 – Neil: Yep. 6:20 –

Panel: Charles Max Wood Guest: Erik Dietrich This week on My Ruby Story, Charles talks to Erik Dietrich who is a consultant and a business owner. After he left the IT life, he is a partner for a content marketing company among others. In particular, we dive pretty deep on: 0:52 – Greetings! It’s another story on Ruby Stories. 1:04 – We have had you on Episode 296. 1:28 – Guest: I did in my blogger days, but over the course of time but I ran into management roles and then left. That definitely skewed my topics that I talked about. 1:59 – Chuck: Introduce yourself for people.  2:53 – Chuck: Let’s talk about your career or even further back. How did you get into programming? 3:24 – Guest: My father introduced me into my project. Into my educational background I do remember banging away at my computer because there weren’t any courses offered (at the time). 4:13 – Chuck: Let’s talk about computer science. 4:22 – guest: I had to apply to the computer science program to the college I went to. I knew I wa

Panel: Charles Max Wood Guest: Jamie Wright This week on My Ruby Story, Charles talks to Jamie Wright about his background and current projects that he is working on. Ruby Rogue interviewed Jamie on Episode 326 – check out that episode for more information. Chuck and Jamie discuss many topics, but one in particular is truly inspiring and that is Jamie’s impact within his community: teaching! Jamie is enthused to help students with designing games and helping them with programming. Check-out today’s episode to hear more!  In particular, we dive pretty deep on: 0:53 – Introduction. Episode 326 of Ruby Rogues is a past episode with Jamie as a guest. 1:50 – Chuck was at Microsoft Build. It’s interesting to see where all of this stuff comes out. Interesting to see where it will be in the next few years. 2:31 – There is a lot of room for improvement – Google Dispatch. It is their AI, which is insane. Compare that to last year, it’s leap and bounds different. 2:59 – Let’s talk about your story, Jamie. 3:10 –

Panel: Charles Max Wood Guest: Rob Miller This week on My Ruby Story, Charles talks to Rob Miller. Rob is a return guess from Ruby Rogues 235. Rob shares his journey into programming, starting with creating HTML and CSS and website building. Rob talks about his book Text Processing with Ruby and projects and he is currently working on. In particular, we dive pretty deep on 1:15 - Rob shares about getting into programming starting with Geocities and website building 4:00 -  Rob and Charles talks about the old ways of working with websites building 5:20 -  Rob talks about when he go into Ruby, and along with PHP and Rails. 6:09 -  Rod share on what he like most about Ruby. The Community and people who were ambassadors for the language. Charles share that this is similar to his experience with getting into Ruby. The community is amazing and very helpful. 8:00 -  Charles ask Rob about his book about “Text Processing with Ruby.” Rob shares his reason for writing this book about text wrangling. 11:00 -  Ro

Panel: Charles Max Wood Guest: Aaron Sumner This week on My Ruby Story, Charles talks to Aaron Sumner. Aaron is a senior software engineer at O’Reilly Media as well as runs the blog Everyday Rails and wrote a book entitled Everyday Rails Testing with RSpec. He first got into programming when his school got a computer and he took a computer class at a local community college that he took in order to learn how to write games. They talk about how he got into Ruby, what he is proud of contributing to the community, why he decided to write his book, and more! In particular, we dive pretty deep on: Ruby Rogues Episode 353Aaron introWriter of Everyday Rails blog and the book Everyday Rails Testing with RSpecHow did you first get into programming?University of Kansas – Links browserWeb development in collegeHow did you get into Ruby?Perl and PHPGot to decide which stack to use at new job – tried out Rails and DjangoWhy's (Poignant) Guide to RubyWhat are the things that you get excited about?What have you done in

Panel: Charles Max Wood Guest: Justin Collins This week on My Ruby Story, Charles talks to Justin Collins. Justin is most well known in the Ruby community for Brakeman and he was previously on Ruby Rogues Episode 219. Justin first got into programming when he was about 11 or 12 when his uncle handed down to him his TRS-80 Model 100 computer. They talk about his experience with event-driven programming, how he got into Ruby, what it was about Ruby that really got him excited, how Brakeman came to be, and more! In particular, we dive pretty deep on: Ruby Rogues Episode 219Known for BrakemanHow did you first get into programming?Interested in computers around 11 or 12TRS-80 Model 100Started off with BasicEvent driven programmingHow did you get into Ruby?Computer Science major in collegeC++, Java, and C in collegePerl, Python, and RubyHis first real experience with RubyRails was “too cool” at the beginningWhat was it about Ruby that really got you excited?Really liked Ruby’s aestheticsVery much a “feel” kind

Panel: Charles Max Wood Guest: Sean Fioritto This week on My Ruby Story, Charles talks to Sean Fioritto. Sean is a developer that five years ago quit his job to do his own thing and work on different projects such as Sketching with CSS, Angular Escape Plan training, and consulting. He first got into programming when he had an idea to create things such as rooms and spells in his MOO game. They talk about how he got into professional style programming, how he got into drawing with CSS, why he created the Angular Escape Plan, and more! In particular, we dive pretty deep on: Ruby Rogues Episode 203Sean introWorks with Angular, React, Vue, and many other frameworksFocus on front-endHow did you first get into programming?Dad got him a book on Python – how he got into PythonPlaying on a “MOO”CodeWarriorHow did you get into professional style programming?Studied Computer Science and Piano in collegeGot started with PythonNot a Ruby developer, but has worked with RailsArtificial Intelligence by Peter NorvigHaving

Panel: Charles Max Wood Guest: Nadia Odunayo This week on My Ruby Story, Charles talks to Nadia Odunayo. Nadia was previously on Ruby Rogues Episode 264 and she used to have her own podcast called Ruby Book Club. She first got into programming because when she was in college she launched a creative writing publication and she was frustrated that she had to keep asking others for help. This was when she started researching coding and how it all worked so that she could put her ideas into action. They talk about Ruby being the first programming language she learned, the importance of learning both the frontend and the backend, her desire to run her own thing, her need to find a company that would support her learning, and more! In particular, we dive pretty deep on: Ruby Rogues Episode 264Ruby Book ClubHow did you first get into programming?Hated having to ask other for helpStudied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at UniversityCode First: GirlsHave you done much with your degree?Her first talk as a junio

Panel: Charles Max Wood Guest: Mark Locklear This week on My Ruby Story, Charles talks to Mark Locklear. Mark first got into programming when there wasn’t a lot of opportunities for him to continue to work in quality assurance and he decided he wanted a change of career, so he went to community college to learn programming. They talk about how he was first exposed to Rails, where he is working currently, and what was it about Rails that got him excited. They also touch on what made him want to move from quality assurance, how he mentors his students at the community college, and more! In particular, we dive pretty deep on: Ruby Rogues Episode 316How did you first get into programming?Has only been programming for about 10 yearsWent into IT during the internet boomUsed to work in IT quality assuranceWent back to school for programmingJava, PHP, and C++ classesRed Hat contracting in RaleighHow did you get into Rails?Taught himself Rails at his local libraryCurrently working at Extension.orgWhat is the coope

Panel: Charles Max Wood Guest: Jerome Hardaway This week on My Ruby Story, Charles speaks with Jerome Hardaway. Jerome used to be a panelist on Ruby Rogues and loved the ability to share his knowledge and interact with so many people from the community. He first got into programming by accident when he couldn’t find a job after becoming a veteran. He saw a commercial about job opportunities in coding, ended up finding a book on SQL and taught himself how to program. They talk about where he ran across Ruby on Rails, what he has worked on that he is particularly proud of, what he is doing currently, and more! In particular, we dive pretty deep on: Jerome’s experience being a panelist on Ruby RoguesLoves being able to reach his goals in a speedy mannerRuby Rogues Episode 279JavaScript Jabber Episode 239How did you first get into programming?In the military during the recession and had trouble finding a jobSaw a commercial about codingTaught himself SQLWordpressFocusing on making Vets Who Code betterPeople w

Panel: Charles Max Wood Guest: Takashi Kokubun This week on My Ruby Story, Charles talks to Takashi Kokubun. Takashi is a template engine hobbyist, is currently working on the JIT Compiler for Ruby 2.6, and is a Ruby on Rails application engineer at Treasure Data. He first got into programming in his first year at university where he learned C in his first part-time job. They talk about why he decided to work with Ruby, the first thing he built with it, and how you would write a templating system. They also touch on what he is working on now, what his plans are for the future, and more! In particular, we dive pretty deep on: Takashi introRuby Rogues Episode 357How did you first get into programming?Learned C in his first part-time jobCreating iOS puzzle gamesStarting to work with Ruby on RailsWhat makes you decide to work with Ruby?Ruby was cleaner and simplerJIT compiler to make Ruby fasterHow did you find Ruby?Friends tweeting about RubyWhat was the first thing you built with Ruby?What was it about Ruby

Panel: Charles Max Wood Guest: Andy Hunt This week on My Ruby Story, Charles talks to Andy Hunt. Andy has previously been on Ruby Rogues for Episode 277, and is known for his book The Pragmatic Programmer, his company The Pragmatic Bookshelf, and much more. He first got into programming because of his interest in electronic music and his first RadioShack project he created, which led him to finding a book on the future of integrated circuits. They talk about how he found Ruby, why he wrote Programming Ruby, what he is working on now, and more! In particular, we dive pretty deep on: Ruby Rogues Episode 277His book The Pragmatic ProgrammerHis company The Pragmatic BookshelfHow did you first get into programming?Interest in electronic musicRadioShack projectBook on the future of integrated circuitsFire in the Valley by Michael SwaineExposure to the programming as it was being bornHow did you find Ruby?Time as a consultantNeeded a flexible and fast languageCouldn’t use C++ or JavaUsing PerlAmazed by the Unix

MRS 050: Jacob Stoebel   Panel: Charles Max Wood   Guest: Jacob Stoebel   This week on My Ruby Story, Charles talks to Jacob Stoebel. Jacob is a Ruby and JavaScript developer and he works for a small company that works with publishers. Jacob first got into programming in high school when he took a computer science class where he messed around with Pascal and C++. He got back into programming after college when he went back to school for programming to try to make his data entry job easier. They talk about his journey pushing the boundaries with technology, how he went about starting his programming career, and more!   In particular, we dive pretty deep on: Jacob introRuby Rogues episode 355Honesty, Kindness and Inspiration: Pick Three blog postHis RubyConf 2017 talkEncourage people to talk about what they are passionate aboutHow did you first get into programming?Computer science class in High SchoolPascal and C++Went on to pursue other things besides programming after high schoolJob involved data pr

Panel: Charles Max Wood Guest: Amit Choudhary This week on My Ruby Story, Charles talks to Amit Choudhary. Amit was previously on Ruby Rogues in January 2018 on episode 345 discussing app failures. Amit is a software developer at Big Binary, where he is a full-stack Ruby developer. He first got into programming when he learned C for a computer engineering course. They talk about how he got into Ruby, what he has done with Ruby, what the Ruby community is like in India, and what he is working on now. In particular, we dive pretty deep on: Ruby Rogues Episode 345Amit introCurrently works at Big BinaryFamily language is RubyInterested in front-end languagesHow did you first get into programming?From Delhi, IndiaFirst language was CLoved the logic behind how a piece of code worksHow did you get into Ruby?VinsolWhat have you done with Ruby?Working with Ruby for the last four yearsUsing Rails to create APIseCommerce platformsHis switch to working in the back-endMeta-programmingComparing languages to RubyWhat is

Panel: Charles Max Wood Guest: James Shore This week on My Ruby Story, Charles talks to James Shore about his background, how he got into programming, pitfalls that happened along the way, and his Agile story. James Shore is a thought leader in the Agile software development community. He was an early adopter of Agile development and he continues to lead, teach, write, and consult on Agile development processes. In particular, we dive pretty deep on: James Shore’s background: Consultant, practitioner, and coauthor of “The Art of Agile.”How did you get into programming? Began an interest at 15 years old.How did you go from hobbyist to a professional? Modem background.FidoNetSoftware and technical design to the agile field.Agile field & development WaterfallRational Rose“UML Distilled” by Martin Fowler“Java Modeling in Color with UML” by Peter CoadWikiWikiWebA lot of time we don’t look for these solutions unless we go through the pain. This is so true.In many ways the best learning c

Panel: Charles Max Wood Guest: David Hemmat This week on My Ruby Story, Charles talks to David Hemmat about his educational background, career choices, and suggestions for developers. David is a web developer who works mainly with Ruby on Rails. In the past few years, David has done work for a number of clients including Condé Nast, Six Red Marbles, ShopKeep, and Couplewise. Currently, David is working on a number of personal and professional development projects. In particular, we dive pretty deep on: David’s background How did you get into programming?David’s first job was being a software developer in the Dominican Republic.Ruby on RailsConsulting and referralsContract work and being a freelancer UpworkFreelancerRedditIs there anything that you have done with Ruby or in the community that you are particularly proud of? Talks about Ruby on RailsWhat are you working on now? The company and Blue Coding.They are interested in hiring a Ruby on Rails developer. If you are interested in this p

Panel: Charles Max Wood Guest: Benjamin Wood This week on My Ruby Story, Charles talks to Benjamin Wood. Ben and his brother Josh own a consultancy company together called Hint, where they specialize in upgrading Rails apps and run UpgradeRails.com. He first got into programming because he was interested in computer hardware and built a computer out of spare parts for fun as a child. They talk about what led him to Ruby and Rails, what he has learned in throughout his life, especially with running a business, and much more! In particular, we dive pretty deep on: Ruby Rogues Episode 288Hint and UpgradeRails.comHow did you first get into programming?Interested in computer hardwareBuilt a computer as a kidGrew up in time of dial up internetDiscovered his house had two phone linesSnook extra fax line into his room to get internetFell in love with the internet as a childPHP and DSLBuilt forums to keep in touch with friendsCreated content management systems with PHPWordPressStarted a career in audio engineering

Panel: Charles Max Wood Guest: Catherine Meyers This week on My Ruby Story, Charles talks to Catherine Meyers. Catherine first got into programming after a significant career change from being an opera singer to being a developer. Friends of hers suggested that she begin a programming career and she hasn’t looked back since. They talk about boot camps, such as Flatiron School, the importance of life-long learning, how she got into Ruby, and why she loves the language so much. In particular, we dive pretty deep on: Ruby Rogues Episode 354Newest member on the Ruby Rogues PanelHow did you first get into programming?Relatively new to programmingCareer change from opera singer to programmerDidn’t grow up thinking she would be a programmerFriends pushed her to programmingTaught herself HTMLUsed Codeacademy, Team Treehouse, and Code SchoolBoot campsRejected from Flatiron School originallyNot everyone gets into code the same way, and that’s okayCoding takes hard workNo successful programming career is automaticTh

Panel: Charles Max Wood Guest: Sam Aaron This week on My Ruby Story, Charles talks to Sam Aaron. Sam is a programmer who likes to try to get other programmers involved and programming in creative ways. Currently, he has been making music with programming with Sonic Pi and teaching children how to do so as well. He first really got into programming when he picked up a graphing calculator when he was in school and would program games and pictures on it. They talk about what led him to Ruby and what led him to create Sonic Pi. In particular, we dive pretty deep on: Episode 215 of Ruby Rogues Sam introSonic PiHow did you fist get into programming?Programming on graph calculatorsWent to university to study programmingSelf-taughtHow did you get into Ruby?Ph.D. in CSHated programmingSaw first DHH screencast on RailsLiked that he could tinker with and get immediate results back with RubyHow did you wind up doing something like Sonic Pi?MonodePlayed piano as a kidMax MspOver a million users on Sonic PiWhat have yo