Fito von Zastrow

Compliments are a reflection of the light you are putting out into the world.

Accept them graciously by recognizing that other people have a better view of your aura than your inner critic does.

RailsConf Reminiscing - The Code Gardener In this episode, we take a nostalgic look back at what RailsConf has meant to us over the years.

@fito.codegardener.com and I picked up our microphones again a couple of weeks ago! Here's a link in case it flew by in your feed before you could click on it...

@fito.codegardener.com and I are thrilled to be speaking at SF RubyConf this November! So many amazing speakers! Hope to see you there!

A magical moment from June with a live bridge between ChicagoRuby hosted at Chime Chicago and SF Ruby (lu.ma/sfruby) hosted at Chime SF 🤩

The key people involved in this recording are: @noelrappin.com, @inazarova.bsky.social‬, @alan.codegardener.com, @fito.codegardener.com‬, and Brandt Sheets

RailsConf Reminiscing Podcast Episode · The Code Gardener · 07/17/2025 · 1h 11m

It’s been a minute, but attending the last RailsConf last week had @fito.codegardener.com and I feeling nostalgic and wanting to share…

Also, @fito.codegardener.com and I will be speaking at SF Ruby Conf! We'll be talking about our approach to managing the scale of our codebase and our team at Cisco Meraki.

We're one of the oldest (2006) and largest (1000+ engineers) Rails shops on the planet. And, we have a unique approach...

Cisco Meraki is such an organization. We're old (2006). We're a large team (1000+ engineers). And, our codebase is huge (4.25+ million lined of Ruby).

You may not be that big yet. But, you may be one day!

Come listen to @fito.codegardener.com and I as we discuss how we manage all of that.

#RubyFriends

@fito.codegardener.com and I with @nodunayo.bsky.social (AKA The Talent) just after RailsConf 2025.

San Francisco Is Calling 🌁☎️ Call for proposals closes this Sunday

San Francisco Ruby Conference is calling 🌁☎️
sfruby.substack.com/p/san-franci...

Fito Von Zastrow and Alan Ridlehoover on stage at RailsConf

Now @fito.codegardener.com‬ and @alan.codegardener.com‬ are going off the Rails, decoupling Cisco Meraki's code to scale their team and application. #RailsConf2025

"Smaller things are less complex and easier to test." @alan.codegardener.com at #RailsConf2025

@alan.codegardener.com and @fito.codegardener.com talk about the tragedy of the successful software — Meraki with over 4M LOC #Rails monolith, looking for new architecture to support maintainability at this scale: modularity and boundaries.

Have you ever been asked to cut down a tree but built a general solution that can cut down all the trees at once? Stop that! Just cut down the damn tree!

Even Einstein came up with specialized relativity before general relativity.

#softwareengineering

Screen shot of a slide entitled My Thoughts on Generative AI - Alan Ridlehoover. The slide includes a photo of Alan wearing brown glasses, and a denim coat, standing with his hands in his pants pockets. The slide contains text about Generative AI Today and Generative AI Tomorrow. (See thread for text.)

Here are my thoughts on Generative AI as it pertains to the software development industry.

(Sorry for the exclusivity of the text embedded in an image. I'll add the text in a 🧵.)

@fito.codegardener.com and I will be talking about how to identify and remove complexity in your software at Sin City Ruby on April 10-11 in, where else but, sunny Las Vegas.

Want to hang out before then? Join us and all the Sin City speakers for Sinful Sunday!

www.sincityruby.com/sinful-sunda...

Staring at the creek, waiting to see some ducks 🦆 (or an otter! 🦦)

RubyConf 2024 (Chicago) RubyConf is the world's longest running conference for Ruby developers, brought together to further discussion and learning about building, managing, and tes...

EXCITING NEWS -- videos from #RubyConf2024 are now LIVE! 🤩

Thank you again to all our speakers and everyone who joined us.

If you weren't able to make it to Chicago, we hope you can take some time to watch the talks over the holiday break! ✨

Hexagonal Architecture + Rails - The Code Gardener In this episode of The Code Gardener, we discuss the Ports & Adapters pattern, also known as Hexagonal Architecture.STOP! Before listening to the episode, please take the time to go watch Alistair...

Have you had enough Hexagonal Architecture yet? No? Well, have I got a podcast for you! In this episode, me and @fito.codegardener.com talk about our early experiences using the Ports & Adapters pattern with Rails. Let us know your thoughts!

Hexagonal Architecture + Rails When learning the Ports & Adapters pattern, I found it confusing. For some reason, it never clicked that the term adapter was a direct reference to the Gang of Four Adapter Pattern. Discovering that w...

When learning the Ports & Adapters pattern, I found it confusing. It never clicked that the adapter was a direct reference to the GoF Adapter Pattern. That was a real face-palm moment for me. And, it was the key to me understanding the pattern.

#hexagonal-architecture #ports-and-adapters #rails

Nice acronym! I might borrow that one 😀

Abstract vs. DRY DRY is the worst programming advice ever. It may seem easy. But, it makes changing or extending software harder. Abstraction, on the other hand, may seem difficult, but makes changing and extending so...

Would you prefer your code to be abstract or DRY?

So DRY It Chafes Podcast Episode · The Code Gardener · 11/30/2024 · 30m

So DRY It Chafes - Episode 2 of The Code Gardener podcast is now up! In it we talk about what we're thankful for this year, then discus why DRY is the worst programming advice ever. Don't believe us? Give a listen...

And, now available on Spotify!

open.spotify.com/show/0izx3az...

Hey Vijay! Thanks! I think your name even came up during the story 😀

The Code Gardener Technology Podcast · 1 Episodes

So, @drbragg.dev has been after @fito.codegardener.com and I to do a podcast of our own for a couple of years now. Well, wait no longer, Drew.

Announcing The Code Gardener Podcast!

Available on Apple Podcasts right now! More coming as we figure it out...

The new logo for The Code Gardener is a simplified 3-d rendering of a keyboard in front of a potted plant.

Introducing the new logo for the.codegardener.com!

I'm leaning toward square stickers. @fito.codegardener.com thinks die cut. What do you think?

Is code even relevant anymore? There is a misconception in the software development industry dating back decades that assumes the most valuable thing we programmers can do is type production code into an editor. That may have been ...

I have a question.

Is code even relevant anymore?

the.codegardener.com/is-code-even...

I’m super excited for this conference! I’ll be there!

Speaking Is Hard... Until It's Not In May, 2022, I gave my first lightning talk at RailsConf in Portland, Oregon. I'm not sure I've ever been so nervous. I was physically shaking. My voice kept cracking. And, even though I knew the mat...

I rediscovered video of my first conference speech last night. It was just a lightning talk. There were maybe 40-50 people in the room. But holy cow was I nervous! Fast forward 2.5 years and I'm a totally different person on stage. And, it shows! Check it out...

the.codegardener.com/speaking-is-...

Extension without Modification Working on a successful and growing codebase, more often than not, requires changing and extending existing behavior. Code attracts code, and changes tend to cluster around existing features. This can...

RubyConf2024 was amazing. Some of the conversations I had with other attendees about object oriented design reminded me of this article I posted a few months ago, and wanted to share it here too: the.codegardener.com/extension-wi...
#RubyFriends #OOP #Ruby