I'm a founder and the CEO of thoughtbot, a developer, author, public speaker, a husband and father.

thoughtbot is a software development firm specializing in Ruby on Rails and the creators of Paperclip, Shoulda, FactoryGirl, and Hoptoad, among other projects. I have coauthored two books and presented at various conferences around the world.

To follow my and the rest of the thoughtbot team’s ideas on development, design, technology, and business, visit our blog Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots.

My wife, Rachel, and I live in Newton, MA with our wonderful children, Noah and Eva. You can follow along with our lives at our family blog.

Recent Tweets

My Books

Rails AntiPatterns: Best Practice Ruby on Rails Refactoring

Rails AntiPatterns: Best Practice Ruby on Rails Refactoring The Complete Guide to Avoiding and Fixing Common Rails 3 Code and Design Problems.

Pro Active Record: Databases with Ruby and Rails

Pro Active Record: Databases with Ruby and Rails Helps you take advantage of the full power of your database engine from within your Ruby programs and Rails applications.

Presentations

jQuery Mobile on Rails

Madison Ruby Conference 2011

jQuery Mobile on Rails
The how, what and why of building mobile web application Rails using jQuery mobile. Including an example application (10.4 MB).

Mobile Web Applications with jQuery

jQuery Conference Boston 2010

Mobile Web Applications with jQuery
Real world information and strategies for building mobile web applications with jQuery, featuring the newly release jQuery Mobile and testing it with Cucumber and Akephalos.

more presentations
INDY SOFTWARE DEV

5by5: The Conversation, Episode 23

INDY SOFTWARE DEV
I discuss independent business, software development, staying small, slow growth, and success through open source.

Avoiding and Fixing Rails AntiPatterns

RailsConf 2010

Avoiding and Fixing Rails AntiPatterns
This 3 hour long workshop, run with Tammer Saleh, presented Rails AntiPatterns and their solutions.

You’re Doing It Wrong

Aloha on Rails 2009

You’re Doing It Wrong
In this presentation Tammer Saleh and I discuss some common AntiPatterns we’ve seen in the wild, and will walk through the process of refactoring them to bring them in line with current best practices.

Succeeding with Rails

Lone Star Ruby Conf 2009

Succeeding with Rails
I discuss the values and strategies that have guided thoughtbot throughout it's 7 years of existence, including hiring, client relations, development values, open source, and products.

Rails AntiPatterns: Best Practice Refactoring

VTM Professional Ruby Conference 2008

Rails AntiPatterns: Best Practice Refactoring
More presentation of Rails AntiPatterns and the best ways to fix them.

Advanced Active Record Techniques: Best Practice Refactoring

RailsConf 2008

Advanced Active Record Techniques: Best Practice Refactoring
This talk was the genesis of what would eventually become a series of talks on Rails AntiPatterns and Best Practices, and would lead to the Rails AntiPatterns book.