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Noel Rappin

@noelrappin.com
2.3K followers 355 following 544 posts

Staff Engineer at Chime. Co-author of Programming Ruby. Author of Modern Front End Development for Rails. Also, noelrappin.com/about to find me. (He/Him)

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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 27/09/2026
Do you have these videos? www.youtube.com/@ChicagoRuby... The older ones have vanished from the Vimeo account but somebody has to have them somewhere
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 25/09/2026
I was searching to remember when the first Windy City Rails was and found this blogpost from @andyatkinson.com who was also there… andyatkinson.com/blog/2008/09...
andyatkinson.com
WindyCityRails Conference 2008
My notes from the WindyCityRails 2008 1-day conference held Saturday September 20th, 2008 in Chicago. This conference was for the Ruby on Rails framework. I traveled from Minneapolis for the conferenc...
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San Francisco Ruby Conference, Nov 10-12, 2026 @sfruby.com · 14/09/2026
This conference is about celebrating YOU. 💙 So after chatting with a bunch of you, we made three changes to the event: - We changed the name back to SF Ruby Conference. - We updated our keynote speakers because, unfortunately, Garry Tan can't make it anymore. - Day passes are now for sale.
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 14/09/2026
Okay, the cover isn't attached yet, but Programming Ruby 4.0 now has an Amazon Pre-Order for the physical book, which is winding its way through production.
link.amazon
Programming Ruby 4: The Pragmatic Programmer's Guide: Rappin, Noel, Thomas, Dave: 9798888652091: Amazon.com: Books
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XO Ruby @xoruby.com · 10/09/2026
Three cities, three Saturdays, and a bunch of folks making it happen! Toronto - Oct 3: Clio.com, @fullscriptdev.bsky.social, Phoenix.ca, Toronto Ruby NYC - Oct 10: Chime.com, WyeWorks.com, Montréal - Oct 17: Fullscript.com Leg Sponsors: @dnsimple.com, Typesense.com, @confreaks.bsky.social
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 04/09/2026
Definitely true of my other self-published books. The wxPython book was with Manning, I'd believe anything about why it didn't show up. No idea about the other one or two Prag books, I'm assuming they weren't in the data set
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 04/09/2026
The website for this is kind of baffling, so who knows if this has all been set up right, or whether there will be anything actually distributed...
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 04/09/2026
* Take My Money, and Rails 5 Test Prescriptions, that are 100% to Prag (who will then split them with me as if it was a royalty). Why these books, and not, say the wxPython book from Manning? Or the Pickaxe book? (I'm guessing that was too new) Or Modern Front-end. No clue.
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 04/09/2026
* Rails 4 Test Prescriptions, split 50/50 with Prag * The Wrox book, which Wrox is asserting 90% of and the agent I was working with is asserting 10% of, which I assume I get paid out of that, I really have no idea.
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 04/09/2026
Authors are getting notifications from Anthropic about how the settlement is being allocated. And it's sure puzzling. I have 5 books in the settlement * Jython book from O'Reilly, I have 1/6, co-author has 1/3, publisher has 50, this matches our contractual split
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 01/09/2026
Yeah, it'd probably be good to get them on record sooner rather than later.
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 01/09/2026
New blog post / newsletter, continuing the When Books Could Code series, specifically continuing the discussion of Extreme Programming Explained, this time covering the original 12 practices and what happened to them…
noelrappin.com
When Books Could Code 2a: _Extreme Programming Explained_ Explained Extremely
It's part two of When Books Could Code, we're still talking about the original XP Explained book, this time looking at the original 12 practices and how they have fared over the last quarter-century.
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 28/08/2026
Having turned in the extensive translator-driven revisions to Pickaxe 4.0 and 3.3, I find myself without a book project, or even the idea of a book project, for the first time in... 20 years? It's a weird feeling.
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 27/08/2026
Both these updates are largely incorporating a review from @kakutani.com and the team working on the Japanese translation of the book, and I wanted to thank them for their work. You can buy the new edition of Programming Ruby at pragprog.com/titles/ruby6...
pragprog.com
Programming Ruby 4 (6th edition)
Code Ruby, Be Happy!
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 27/08/2026
If you bought the ebook of Programming Ruby 4 you should be getting an email with a final beta before production. Also, if you have an ebook of Programming Ruby 3.3, you should also be getting an email with an update.
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 14/08/2026
My Robot Year. The underserved genre of LLM takes… as I come up on a full year of working with Claude. Prototypes vs finished products, exponential complexity, and Conway's Law with robots. Actually finished this because I was afraid the world would change three more times if I waited.
noelrappin.com
My Robot Year
It's been about a year since I started using LLMs extensively to build stuff. How's it going? I mean, kinda sorta all the ways?
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 29/07/2026
His was also pretty great
defector.com
Tiny, Innocent Dirt Cam Menaced By Confused Goliaths | Defector
If there is a funnier MLB broadcast duo than Jason Benetti and Andy Dirks, I am not familiar with their work. Regardless of how the Tigers are playing, you can guarantee that Benetti will arrive at the booth ready to pepper his play-by-play with clever one-liners, deep-cut references and an extended bit or two. Of…
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 26/07/2026
And while I'm here, the season premiere of Strange New Worlds was one of the Trek-iest things that ever Treked (complimentary). The bones of this story would have worked on Next Generation, would have made a great Voyager episode, even a fun Lower Decks episode...
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 26/07/2026
Well, I for one did not know that a theater here in Chicago is going to be adapting Becky Chambers' "A Psalm for the Wild-Built"... lifelinetheatre.com/performances...
lifelinetheatre.com
A Psalm for the Wild-Built – Lifeline Theatre
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 17/07/2026
Just noting this blog post about the Gang of Four design patterns book for those of you who might be watching @pragdave.bsky.social at #rubyconf
noelrappin.com
When Books Could Code #1: Design Patterns
Let's start a new series about a very timely topic -- programming books! We'll kick it off with a discussion of the classic Gang of Four _Design Patterns_.
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 14/07/2026
Hello #rubyconf (and everybody else) — I've got a promo code for you! 40% off all Ruby or Rails titles at PragProg.com with the code "RUBYCONF2026". Including, say, Programming Ruby 4 (pragprog.com/titles/ruby6/pro...)
use code:
RUBYCONF2026
40% off all Ruby / Rails titles
only at pragprog.com
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 14/07/2026
Hello #rubyconf (and everybody else) — I've got a promo code for you! 40% off all Ruby or Rails titles at PragProg.com with the code "RUBYCONF2026". Including, say, Programming Ruby 4 (pragprog.com/titles/ruby6/pro...)
use code:
RUBYCONF2026
40% off all Ruby / Rails titles
only at pragprog.com
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 13/07/2026
I suppose that will do it... longtime fan of Bill's work and your work, so thanks. And, as I said, mostly doing this for fun.
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 13/07/2026
But thanks for the mention, and I hope you at least appreciated my intentions in the write up. Among other things a good reminder that the internet is actually public even if you don't promote things. (No, seriously, how did you find it?)...
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 13/07/2026
To be clear, I'm just doing this for fun, and partially to see if I could source the data to make this work, I have no qualifications for the changes I've made beyond general enthusiasm.
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 01/07/2026
After spending way, way too much time over-editing it, part one of my next essay on programming books, on Extreme Programming Explained by Kent Beck, is now up. Audio version coming… soon: noelrappin.com/2026/06/when...
noelrappin.com
When Books Could Code 2a: Extreme Programming Part 1 (of many)
In part 2 of the When Books Could Code series, we take a look at _Extreme Programming Explained_, a book that was critically important to my career.
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 01/07/2026
A few new things on the website: I gave a talk at Chicago Ruby about what happened after I asked my local robot to review code with "what would Sandi Metz do?". Not quite what I expected…
noelrappin.com
Inspector Gadget: Adventures in Agent Review
Write an awesome description for your new site here. It will appear in your document head meta (for Google search results) and in your feed.xml site description.
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 09/06/2026
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 09/06/2026
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 07/06/2026
Also, mostly for fun, I did an audio reading of the Design Patterns book post, you can get it here: noelrappin.com/2026/04/when... I like doing the audio readings, I hope somebody finds this interesting.
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 07/06/2026
A couple of new blog shaped things: I've decided to start doing the book posts monthly (so shorter but more frequent), here's January: noelrappin.com/2026/05/janu... February: noelrappin.com/2026/06/febr...
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therubyonrails.bsky.social @therubyonrails.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Hello, Ruby Friends! New episodes of The Ruby on Rails Podcast are going to start rolling out soon! If all goes well, the first new episode should go up next week. The podcast has a brand new host who is very excited to hit the ground running.
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 03/06/2026
Chicago Ruby tonight (June 3). Hosted at Chime 6-9 PM 333 North Green Street Ifat Ribon: Fewer Tests, More Confidence Fito von Zastrow - Defying Gravity: Teaching AI to Write Better Ruby Noel Rappin: Inspector Gadget: Adventures in Agent code review Sign up: www.meetup.com/chicagoruby/...
meetup.com
ChicagoRuby @ Chime, Wed, Jun 3, 2026, 6:00 PM | Meetup
**Speakers:** 🎤 **Ifat Ribon** (**in person**) - **Fewer Tests, More Confidence** AI can write tests in seconds, but it can't tell you which ones matter (yet). This talk s
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 02/06/2026
A beautiful post about a perfect book.
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 01/06/2026
6:00 — did you see the follow up?
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 01/06/2026
Wednesday, Jun 3 · 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM CDT 333 North Green Street · Chicago, IL Sign up here: www.meetup.com/chicagoruby/...
meetup.com
ChicagoRuby @ Chime, Wed, Jun 3, 2026, 6:00 PM | Meetup
**Speakers:** 🎤 **Ifat Ribon** (**in person**) - **Fewer Tests, More Confidence** AI can write tests in seconds, but it can't tell you which ones matter (yet). This talk s
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 01/06/2026
Wednesday, Jun 3 · 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM CDT 333 North Green Street · Chicago, IL Sign up here: www.meetup.com/chicagoruby/...
meetup.com
ChicagoRuby @ Chime, Wed, Jun 3, 2026, 6:00 PM | Meetup
**Speakers:** 🎤 **Ifat Ribon** (**in person**) - **Fewer Tests, More Confidence** AI can write tests in seconds, but it can't tell you which ones matter (yet). This talk s
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 01/06/2026
Come join the Ruby community in Chicago with us Wednesday, we're going to have a lot of pizza if you don't...
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 21/05/2026
My talk is tentatively titled "Inspector Gadget: Adventures in Agent Code Review", and it launches from the weirdness of asking an LLM "what would <a Ruby Luminary> do?"
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Russ Olsen @russolsen.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
OK, so the paper version of Eloquent Ruby is off to production. That means it's a couple of months away from making an appearance. It also means I'm done, with a capital "Ahhh." pragprog.com/titles/eruby...
pragprog.com
Eloquent Ruby, Second Edition
Write elegant Ruby code--not just correct, but idiomatic. Go beyond the vocabulary and syntax and learn to express yourself with eloquence.
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 21/05/2026
My talk is tentatively titled "Inspector Gadget: Adventures in Agent Code Review", and it launches from the weirdness of asking an LLM "what would <a Ruby Luminary> do?"
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Anton Tkachov @antontkachov.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
ChicagoRuby @ Chime — June 3 Register: lnkd.in/gfJ_n9AA 🎤 Ifat Ribon — AI-generated tests & confidence 🎤 @fito.codegardener.com — Defying Gravity: Teaching AI to Write Better Ruby 🎤 @noelrappin.com — joined us as our third speaker Big thanks to Chime for hosting us again 👏 See you!
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 17/05/2026
It is _wild_ that even today, this very day, _Design Patterns_, written in 1994, is #1 on Amazon for OO Design, and 18,987 on all of Amazon, that's absurd.
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 17/05/2026
I'll give you Swamp Thing, but Man Thing is Marvel
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 17/05/2026
You should all absolutely read my post on the Gang of Four _Design Patterns_ book and it's impact: noelrappin.com/2026/04/when... And... entry two in this series is going to be XP Explained, a book that legitimately changed my life.. I have opinions, this one is going long
noelrappin.com
When Books Could Code #1: Design Patterns
Let's start a new series about a very timely topic -- programming books! We'll kick it off with a discussion of the classic Gang of Four _Design Patterns_.
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 15/05/2026
Hear me out, the team is Superman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, J’Onn, and Beast Boy. Yes, Supes and Salad…
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 13/04/2026
Hey -- there's a Chime listing on my exact team. This is a remote job for US/Canada applicants. careers.chime.com/en/jobs/8414... It's doing a lot of the work I do on our Ruby code, but focused on our Python teams. Happy to answer questions about this here or via DM.
careers.chime.com
Senior Python Core Engineer
About the role Chime Engineering is growing rapidly as we scale to meet the financial needs of our members—and that growth depends on strong, secure, and efficient engineering foundations. We’re hirin...
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 26/04/2026
New Blog Post! New series about the extremely timely topic of old programming books! "When Books Could Code: Design Patterns" noelrappin.com/2026/04/when... We start with one of the most influential from my early career... Does its advice hold up?
noelrappin.com
When Books Could Code #1: Design Patterns
Let's start a new series about a very timely topic -- programming books! We'll kick it off with a discussion of the classic Gang of Four _Design Patterns_.
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 26/04/2026
While I'm here, a bunch of changes at the website: * Genuine RSS where you would expect it: localhost:4000/rss.xml * Restored audio files, show notes, and transcripts for the best of Tech Done Right (noelrappin.com/audio/) * Generally better layout, individual pages for videos and podcasts.
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Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 26/04/2026
New Blog Post! New series about the extremely timely topic of old programming books! "When Books Could Code: Design Patterns" noelrappin.com/2026/04/when... We start with one of the most influential from my early career... Does its advice hold up?
noelrappin.com
When Books Could Code #1: Design Patterns
Let's start a new series about a very timely topic -- programming books! We'll kick it off with a discussion of the classic Gang of Four _Design Patterns_.
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