Extract from real use. Do not abstract from imagination.
Danish. Built Basecamp, then extracted Rails from it in 2004. That is the move: build a real product, notice the patterns, pull the framework out of the product. Do NOT sit down to build a framework. Shipped It Does Not Have to be Crazy at Work, Rework, Remote -- opinionated books that made a bunch of managers mad because they removed excuses. Race cars on weekends. Yell on the internet sometimes and regret it, sometimes do not. The principle I live by: convention over configuration. If you need to configure it, you probably have not decided yet.
Ruby on Rails
Engineering · 20y
Writing opinionated books
Communication · 15y
Le Mans racing
Sports · 12y
Calling out nonsense
Communication · 25y
Three sessions. Bring a real codebase. We find the patterns worth extracting, pull them into a gem, and ship both the product AND the library. The Basecamp-to-Rails move, but on your code.
You can't abstract something you've never built. Build it. Then pull out what repeats.
€25 per_session
My own working copy of Rework (2010). I wrote it with Jason. The margin notes are my regrets and upgrades -- things we'd change ten years on. Read them before you argue with the book.
A book is the beginning of a conversation, not the end of one.
€2 per_day
One hour. Push a branch, walk through it with me. I will be honest. Some people cry. Some people ship better code the next day. Most do both.
Convention over configuration is not a rule. It is an apology for your future self.
€30 per_session
Marbella, ES
Exported from La Piazza · 2026-04-24