💔 Newsletter #47: chatGPT and AI ethic, no-code is not taboo, incidents reports...

A bi-monthly newsletter about Ruby on Rails and the web.

In this issue … we look into the AI hype, we realize the Backstreet Boys can help us to learn to code, we do good code reviews, we learn to write better alt text for images…

😚 French version (version française) | 🤌 Italian version (versione italiana) | 🤝 Spanish version (versión española)

---

Web News 🗞️

ChatGPT is everywhere, everybody talks about it, tests it, and wonders about its potential, and dangers. It is time to understand how it works, this article explains it well. And we encourage you to read the analysis made by Distributed AI Research Institute (created by Timnit Gebru) which calls for regulating the companies producing these AI that already have negative effects.

Ruby and Rails News 🛤️

💔 Don’t Fear the Errors

In this article, Crystal Williams-Brown shares that what matters in an error message is the context. She compares this to a theater improvisation of a breakup where she and her partner have to exchange the same replies but in a different tone. An error message is almost the same: it repeats itself until we understand it. (The author of this article is going to lie down in the fetal position and will come back in a few minutes).

✨ Error Messages are our friends - Crystal Williams-Brow

🤏 News in Brief

• GoRails updated their videos to learn Ruby and Rails for beginners, they are available and free on YouTube.

• VSCode integrated into its doc how to use Ruby with the extension Ruby LSP.

• Rose Wiegley shares what it is to be a Staff Developer at Shopify. She also talked about it in the Ruby on Rails Podcast.

• Wanna travel? Here is a list of the European Ruby et Rails conferences. And the Rails Foundation announced its first Rails World conference that will be held on October 5-6 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

---

Code Tip 💎

#compact_blank

The method #compact_blank returns an Array or a Hash without the empty values.

[1, "", nil, "2", " ", {a: 1}, false, true].compact
# => [1, "", "2", " ", {:a => 1}, true]

[1, "", nil, "2", " ", {a: 1}, false, true].compact_blank 
# => [1, "2", {:a => 1}, true]

{ a: "", b: 1, c: nil, d: [], e: false, f: true }.compact_blank
# => { b: 1, f: true }

✨ Enumerable#compact_blank

---

On the Web 🕸️

🙋🏻‍♀️ How to Review a PR as a Junior

It is a bit intimidating, as a junior developer, to review the code of a senior. Scared to make a mistake, to ask the wrong question, or write a naive comment… Emma Catlin helps us break the myth of this ritual to turn it into a real learning opportunity.

✨ How to Review Code as a Junior Developer - Emma Catlin

🥷🏽 A Bit of Paranoia Can Help

You might know that some employers don’t really care about defending your interests, and when it comes to company devices (laptops, smartphones, office accessories), better be careful — Rachel shares her security measures.

✨ Your devices and your employer - rachelbythebay

🖥 Some Code, but Not Too Much

As a developer, we can sometimes show some skepticism looking at the #nocode movement. Nevertheless, 36% of the websites are made with WordPress, and there are always new CMS with serious solutions to build something without a line of PHP (and we say thank you!). Natalie Birch provides us with a nice benchmark of the best available solutions today.

✨ Best No-Code Website Builders That Save You Time - Natalie Birch

---

Some Code 💻

🕵️ Colonel Mustard, with the Chandelier

Once found and fixed the cause of an incident, we have to communicate our findings. Don’t make the mistake to think your Advocacy Team doesn’t need to know because it is too technical… It is imperative to share the learnings and to do it adequately. Vanessa Huerta Granda suggests a communication guide to not miss anyone.

✨ Techniques for Sharing Incident Findings - Vanessa Huerta Granda

🗄 Each Thing at the Right Place

Before implementing a new gem at work, a good practice is to play with it in a little “simple app” we have on the side. Jessica Joy Kerr has a great method to drive these little experiences without getting your wires crossed.

✨ Keep Your Experiment Separate - Jessica Joy Kerr

✍️ Writing for More Help

30 years ago we discovered the possibility to add alt text on images. 30 years of missed experience because we still show difficulty to use it. Some awareness, coming very slowly, advances its use, but the lack of guidelines remains a barrier to effective use. Dora shares some tips to help us.

✨ Time to Write Better Alt Text for Accessibility - Dora Cee

---

Fun 🎉

📀 I Want It That Way

All roads lead to code, and all fandoms as well. If the fan communities are often mocked, for Torie Bosch, they were the starting point of a career in tech. (Tell me why?). The limit between a Backstreet Boys fansite and the first lines of HTML is very thin, and this is what she tells us in this article full of 90s nostalgia.

✨ How the Backstreet Boys taught me to code - Torie Bosch

---

☕ Buy us a coffee to support the newsletter 🍰

✨ Join us: meet-up | twitter | website
Editors: Aurelie, Camille, Lucille and Juliette
English version: Aurelie
Italian version: Paola
Spanish version: Kattya