Jason SwettEvery podcast appearance, updated as new ones drop

In this special crossover episode, we make a slight departure from our typical format to chat with Adrian and Yaro from the Friendly Show and Jason from the Code with Jason podcast about a topic near and dear to our hearts: organizing regional Ruby conferences. Adrian is the organizer of Friendly.rb in Bucharest. Jason is the organizer of Sin City Ruby in Las Vegas. And as long-time listeners may know, Jeremy co-organized Blue Ridge Ruby in Asheville, NC back in 2023.

🚀 Why is there so much confusion around Test-Driven Development (TDD) and Automated Testing? Why do many developers struggle with testing, and what are they getting wrong? In this episode of the Mob Mentality Show, we sit down with Jason Swett—author, speaker, and a go-to expert on Rails testing—to unpack the most common misconceptions, challenges, and best practices in modern software testing. 🔍 Topics We Cover: ✅ Why Jason Swett is passionate about Automated Testing and why he wants to help the development community ✅ Misconceptions about TDD (Test-Driven Development)—not liking TDD itself vs. not liking something called "TDD" ✅ The reality of software testing—why most developers aren't doing it well and how to improve ✅ Testing vs. verification vs. specification—what is a test really? What is code? ✅ Red, Green, Refactor vs. Specify, Encode, Fulfill—what do these different ways of thinking about TDD highlight? ✅ Why software changeability matters and how to reduce the cost of ownership ✅ What are you actually testing? The difference between testing the product (e.g., squirt gun) vs. testing the system that builds it ✅ The role of automation in development—is code like factory machinery? ✅ How testing connects to broader software and team dynamics—beyond just writing tests ✅ Common pitfalls in testing and how to ensure your tests actually add value ✅ Logical debates vs. ego-driven arguments—how to have productive discussions about TDD 💡 Key Takeaways: 🔹 TDD is often misunderstood—before rejecting it, understand what it really is 🔹 Many developers struggle with writing the right kind of tests—knowing what to test is critical 🔹 Automated tests don’t just verify code; they help manage change and reduce long-term costs 🔹 Good testing and TDD are about more than just code—they’re about communication, clarity, and better software development 📌 Who should watch/listen? If you’re a developer, tester, software engineer, or tech lead who wants to improve your testing skills, understand TDD better, and learn from a Rails testing expert, this episode is for you! 🎧 Subscribe & Listen: Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe to the Mob Mentality Show on your favorite platform: 👉 https://www.mobmentalityshow.com/ 🔥 Join the Conversation! Have thoughts on TDD and Automated Testing? Share them in the comments! Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/_kL_tXiNcl4

In this episode of the Rails Business Podcast, hosts Brendan Buckingham and Ryan Frisch welcome Jason Swett, a content creator and Ruby influencer. The conversation dives deep into the intricacies of consulting, emphasizing the importance of sales and marketing. Jason shares his experiences and challenges in freelancing, noting the similarities to full-time employment. They also explore Jason's new venture, a continuous integration platform called Saturn CI, and his long-term goal of balancing a product-building endeavor with stable income. 00:00 Welcome and Guest Introduction 01:16 Consulting Insights and Advice 02:26 Balancing Sales, Marketing, and Development 04:17 Freelancing vs Full-Time Employment 05:46 Challenges in Freelancing 07:46 Advisory Work and Its Difficulties 09:15 Considering Full-Time Employment 11:30 Product Development Journey 14:01 Finding a Viable Product Idea 19:01 Evaluating Business Ideas 26:13 Leveraging Influence for Product Success 29:08 Conclusion and Contact Information Links: - Jason's Website - Jason's Podcast - Sin City Ruby - Jason's Book Send us Fan Mail

In this episode, Jason, Chris, and Andrew catch up with each other before diving into a conversation with Jason Swett. Jason, an author, speaker, and creator, discusses his monthly snail mail newsletter "Nonsense Monthly" and the upcoming Sin City Ruby conference scheduled for April 2025 in Vegas, Baby! The discussion then shifts to various topics surrounding software testing, including the challenges of test setup, duplication in tests, and the philosophical aspects of tests as specifications. Jason also talks about his latest book, "Professional Rails Testing" and his experiences and insights on consulting and improving technical leaders. Hit download now to hear more! Honeybadger Honeybadger is an application health monitoring tool built by developers for developers. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Chris Oliver X/Twitter Andrew Mason X/Twitter Jason Charnes X/Twitter

Jason Swett is well-known in the Rails community for his podcast, Code with Jason , and his book, The Complete Guide to Rails Testing . Jason joins us to talk about his recent transition back into consulting after working for companies for the past few years. He shares about various projects he's been working on, building his personal brand, and his newest coaching service. Jason is also hosting the 2nd iteration of Sin City Ruby at the Tropicana Las Vegas! Get your ticket and come meet Jason, Jeremy, Jess and a host of other Ruby friends! Links: Twitter Website Book Sin City Ruby Mentioned: Friendly.rb talk Million Dollar Consulting, Alan Weiss

Jason Swett is the author of the Complete Guide to Rails Testing. We covered Jason's experience with testing while building relatively small Ruby on Rails applications. Our conversation applies to just about any language or framework so don't worry if you aren't familiar with Rails. A few topics covered: - Listen to advice but be aware of its context. Something good for a large project may not apply to a small one - Fast feedback loops help us work quicker and tests are great for this - If you don't involve things like the database in any of your tests your application may not work at all despite your tests passing - You may not need to worry about scaling at the start for smaller or internal applications - Try to break features into the smallest pieces possible so they can be checked in and reviewed quickly - Jason doesn't remember the difference between a stub and a mock because he rarely uses them Related Links: - Code with Jason - The Complete Guide to Rails Testing - Code With Jason Podcast Transcript: [00:00:00] Jeremy: today I'm talking to Jason Swett, he's the author of the complete guide to rails testing, a frequent trainer and conference speaker. And he's the host of the code with Jason podcast. So Jason, welcome to software sessions. [00:00:13] Jason: Thanks for having me. [00:00:15] Jeremy: from listening to your podcast, I get a sense that the size of the projects you work on they're, they're relatively modest. Like they're not like a super huge thing. There, there may be something that you can fit all within your head. And I was wondering if you could talk a little bit to that first, so that we kind of get where your perspective is and the types of projects you work on are. [00:00:40] Jason: Yeah. Good question. So that is true. Most of my jobs have been at small companies and I think that's probably typical of the typical developer because most businesses in the world are small businesses. You know, there's, there's a whole bunch of small businesses for every large business. And so most of the code bases I've worked on have been not particularly huge. And most of the teams I've worked on have been relatively small And sometimes so small that it's just me. I'm the only person working on the application. I, don't really know any different. So I can't really compare it to working on a larger application. I have worked at, I worked at AT&T so that was a big place, but I was at, AT&T just working on my own solo project so that wasn't a big code base either. So yeah, that's been what my experience has been like. [00:01:36] Jeremy: Yeah. And I, I think that's interesting that you mentioned most people work in that space as well, because that's basically where I fall as well. So when I listened to your podcast and I hear you talking about like, oh, I have a, I have a rails project where I just have a single server and you know, I have a database and rails, and maybe I have nginx in front, maybe redis it's sort of the scale that I'm familiar with versus when I hear podcasts or articles, you know, I'm reading where they're talking about, oh, we have 500 microservices or we have 200 instances of the application. That's, that's not a space that I've, I've worked in. So I, I found it helpful to, to hear, you know, from you on your show that like, Hey, you know, not everybody is working on these gigantic projects. [00:02:28] Jason: Yeah. Yeah. It's not terribly relatable when you hear about those huge projects. And obviously, sometimes, maybe people earlier in their career can get the wrong idea about what's applicable to their

GUEST Jason Swett Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonswett/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jasonswett LINKS Code with Jason: https://www.codewithjason.com/ TOPICS (02:13) being more visible to the community (03:08) Starting to write (07:15) Data sets vs tour specs (09:18) Testing (17:23) Mocking (24:18) Code with Jason (27:08) Daily routine (34:53) Logic & epistemology ---- Üretim Bandı'nın Slack grubu olduğunu biliyor muydunuz? 1000'den fazla ürün yöneticisi, girişimci, yazılımcı, tasarımcının bir arada bulunduğu aktif ürün topluluğuna siz de katılın: >>> uretimbandi.com/slack İki haftada bir yayınladığımız, ürün geliştirmeyle alakalı bültenimizi de aşağıdaki linkten takip edebilirsiniz: >>> uretimbandi.com/bulten

[00:05:33] Jason introduces himself and tells us what he does. [00:06:48] Jason defines what a service object is and how he views them, and then asks the guys if they use service objects and what comes to mind when they hear the term service objects. [00:11:45] We find out about a blog post that Jason wrote recently that he tells us about. [00:13:49] Chris talks about good complicated examples are the hardest to come up with, and Jason tells us about a challenge he had with cases in his own work and he addresses something Chris said about testing. [00:17:01] We hear Jason’s hypothesis as to why service objects are so popular. [00:22:48] Chris tells us about an app that he made that supports sub domains and custom domains, and he talks about Basecamp open source Name of Person gem and what it does. [00:27:14] Jason talks about some distractions that they’ve come up in their app. [00:30:51] A great point is brought up by Jason about paying close attention to the names of things in Rails you will notice everything is made out of objects. [00:32:29] An obstacle to learning about this stuff is that Rails itself obscures a lot, so Jason shares some recommendations on how to get through it. [00:35:47] We learn more about Jason’s newest book he released on testing called, “The Complete Guide to Rails Testing.” (use code REMOTERUBY for an awesome discount!) [00:39:48] If the testing stuff sounds interesting to you and you want a sample of what Jason’s teaching, go to railstestingguide.com and get a little guide that he put together that helps you get started. [00:40:38] Find out where you can follow Jason online. Panelists: Jason Charnes Chris Oliver Guest: Jason Swett Sponsor: Honeybadger Links: Jason Swett Twitter Jason Swett Linkedin Code with Jason The Rails with Jason Podcast The Complete Guide to Rails Testing by Jason Swett (50% off with code REMOTERUBY) Name of Person-GitHub Railstestingguide.com Chris Oliver X/Twitter Andrew Mason X/Twitter Jason Charnes X/Twitter

Jason's testing course Jason's website Jason on twitter Jason's podcast: Rails with Jason My review of Accelerate The DORA Report ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Jason Swett and I talk about his education as a programmer and the classes he took in university. I also explain big-O notation in a simple way that (Jason thinks) is useful, and we wander onto topics like philosophy, as Jason and I tend to... Further details, links and full transcript here: http://justtheusefulbits.com/jtub/jason-swett-when-data-structures-big-o-notation-and-algorithms-were-completely-useless/

Jason Swett is a developer, speaker, author and the host of The Rails with Jason podcast. He and Brittany discussed bringing diversity into the podcasting space and some of his favorite tips from his blog post, "All my best programming tips". Links for this episode: The Rails with Jason Podcast All my best programming tips | Jason's Blog Code with Jason Episode Music: "Funkorama" by Kevin MacLeod Episode Introduction and Outro by Michael Springer

Hello and welcome to The Ruby Blend! Today's episode is all about testing! We have special guest, Jason Swett, who is the host of, "Rails with Jason Podcast" and author of, "Rails Testing For Beginners." If you've had very little or no testing experience, don't be afraid to listen to this episode, because Jason will start with a gentle testing intro so you won't get lost. We will talk about the basic tooling of Rails testing and what each of these tools do. Also, we discuss what kinds of tests you should write, tests you don't have to write, and TDD. Download this episode now! Sponsored by: Linode Panelists: Andrew Mason Ron Cooke Guests: Jason Swett Show Notes: [00:03:09] Jason gives an overview of everything about testing he wants to talk about today. [00:04:27] We start with the basic tooling of Rails tests. We discuss when you spin up a new Rails app and you're getting ready to start writing some tests, what do you start reaching for, what kind of gems, and what are the purposes of those gems? [00:06:50] Jason talks about why testing is important and then he goesback into talking about tooling. [00:16:04] A big challenge in learning testing is knowing the terminology. We will discuss System Spec versus System test and Capybara, fixtures, and factories. [00:27:34] Andrew brings up a gem he's used called the Fabrication Gem. Also, Jason talks about another tool called Faker. [00:35:10] Jason talks about Martin Fowler and his "Test Pyramid." [00:39:05] What kinds of tests to write and what kinds we can skip is discussed here. Jason talks about one of his favorite rants he wrote in a blog post about "Examples of pointless types of RSpec tests." [00:45:59] Andrew wonders about testing validations and asks Jason if this is a necessary test. Andrew gets his "validation." [00:48:55] Jason discusses RSpec tests you can write. He will let us know what he writes and what he doesn't write. [00:53:26] Jason talks about TDD (Test Driven Development). Links Mentioned: Jason Swett Twitter CodeWithJason.com Jason Swett YouTube "Rails Testing For Beginners" - Jason Swett RSpec minitest Capybara Fixtures Factory Method Pattern Factory Bot Fabrication Gem Faker VCR Martin Fowler Test Pyramid "Examples of pointless types of RSpec tests" - Jason Swett Shoulda matchers TDD (Test Driven Development) Credits: Produced by Justin Dorfman at <a hr

Jason Swett Working Effectively with Legacy Code Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code (2nd Edition) (JavaScript) Refactoring: Ruby Edition: Ruby Edition Using Ruby in 2019 Job Alert: Lensrentals.com is looking for a Ruby developer | Send a resume to jobs@lensrentals.com Chris Oliver X/Twitter Andrew Mason X/Twitter Jason Charnes X/Twitter

Jason Swett is a developer, speaker, trainer, author and host of The Ruby Testing Podcast. Jason joined Brittany to discuss legacy Ruby on Rails applications: how to identify them and tackle their challenges from a testing standpoint. Links for this episode: RSpec Minitest Test Driven Development: By Example by Kent Beck XUnit Test Patterns: Refactoring Test Code by Gerard Meszaros Working Effectively with Legacy Code by Michael C. Feathers Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code by Martin Fowler Jason Swett's Blog RubyConf India The Ruby Testing Podcast | Brittany Guests Episode Music: "Cinematic" by Purple Planet Music

Panel: Dave Kimura Eric Berry Nathan Hopkins David Richards Special Guest: Jason SwettIn this episode of Ruby Rogues, the panel talks with Jason Swett who is a host of the podcast show, Ruby Testing! Jason also teaches Rails testing at CodeWithJason.com . He currently resides in the Michigan area and works for Ben Franklin Labs. Check-out today’s episode where the panelists and the guest discuss testing topics.Show Topics:0:00 – Sentry.IO – Advertisement! Check out the code: DEVCHAT @ Sentry.io.1:07 – I am David Kimura and here is the panel! Tell us what is going on?1:38 – Jason: I started my own podcast, and have been doing that for the past few months. That’s one thing. I started a new site with CodeWithJason.com.2:04 – You released a course?2:10 – Jason: Total flop and it doesn’t exist, but I am doing something else.2:24 – I bet you learned a lot by creating the course?2:34 – Jason: The endeavor of TEACHING it has helped me a lot.2:50 – Tell us why we should drink the Koolaid?3:02 – Jason: What IS testing? Good question. Whether is it is manual testing or automated testing. We might was well automate it.3:25 – If we are testing our code what does that look like?3:34 – Jason: Not sure what you mean, but I am doing tests at a fine grain vs. coarser grain.4:00 – Show of hands who has...?4:19 – What different tests are there?4:20 – Jason: Good question. One term that one person uses is different to a different person. Let’s start with unit tests vs. integration tests.Jason dives into the similarities and differences between these 2 tests (see above). There are different tests, such as: featured tests, acceptance tests, etc.5:45 – What tests are THE best?5:50 – Jason: Good question. The kind of tests you are writing depends on what type of coverage you are going for.If I had a sign-up page for a user, I would...7:36 – What anti-patterns are you seeing? What is your narrative in teaching people how to use them?8:07 – Jason talks first about his background and his interaction with one of his colleagues.8:58 – Question.9:00 – Jason continues with his answers from 8:07.9:32 – Jason: Feel free to chime-in. What have you done?9:42 – I often ignore it until I feel bad and then I say: wait-a-minute I am a professional. Then I realize I ignored the problem because I was acting cowardly.10:29 – For me it depends on the test that it is.One gem that I found is: RSpec RETRY .11:16 – Jason: The test is flapping because of something is wrong with the database or something else. Since you asked about anti-patterns let’s talk about that! Rails and Angular are mentioned. 13:10 – Do you find that you back off of your unit testing when you are using integration?13:22 – Jason: It depends on the context we are talking about.Jason talks about featured testing, model-level testing, and more.13:58 – What is your view on using MOCKS or FAKES. What should we be doing there?14:10 – Jason: Going to the Angular world I understand Mocks better than now. There was a parable that I think is applicable here about the young and the old fish.16:23 – Jason continues talking about testing things in isolation.16:36 – Question. 16:39 – I have been looking for an area to specialize in and I wrote an eBook. (Check out her

Jason Swett shares lessons he’s learned in the process of ditching hourly. Guest Bio Jason Swett is a web developer from Sand Lake, Michigan, who has been freelancing since 2011. Jason has historically billed by the hour but in the last couple years he has figured out how to start transitioning into value-based pricing." Links Million Dollar Consulting by Alan Weiss Better Training Exercises by Reuven Lerner Jason’s Book Jason’s Consultancy Transcript Jonathan Stark: Hello and welcome to Ditching Hourly. I'm Jonathan Stark. Today I'm joined by a guest Jason Swett. Jason is a web developer from Sand Lake Michigan, who's been freelancing since 2011. He has historically billed by the hour but in the last couple of years he has figured out how to start transitioning into value-based pricing. Jason welcome to show. Jason Swett: Thank you. Jonathan Stark: Can you tell folks a little about yourself, what you do? Jason Swett: Sure. I'm a software developer, I have been for most of the last 15 years. I got started writing code for money in about 2000. My first job was actually working for my dad. We did that for a little bit and then got my serious start in 2005, doing PHP stuff, did that for a while and switched to Rails and been doing that ever since. The vast majority of that time has been either regular employment or hourly contracting but then in recent months, recent years, I've been transitioning into other better types of billing, which I think is what we're going to talk a little bit today. Jonathan Stark: That would be great. We've exchanged a few emails leading up to this and you sound like a really big win that you had this year in the training space, which I'd love to talk about. But in the pre show you also mentioned something about ... We were talking about how people will tend to call themselves consultants when really they are just freelancers or contractors and that there is a distinction there. It's not like you can just say, "I'm a consultant now." Even though I think it's good to push in that direction, to move yourself to be perceived or fulfill the role of a consultant because it's higher value. Can you talk a little bit about what you see as the distinction between contracting and consulting. Jason Swett: It's a great question. Freelancing 101 is like don't call yourself a freelancer because when you use that word and then prospects or clients hear that, there's something about it that conveys low value. Like you are a tool that's to be used. They tell you what to do, they make the plans and they tell you to implement the plans. So it's much better if you're perceived as a consultant. And the differences there to me is that rather than being an implementer, you're somebody who helps formulate the plans and then somebody else does the implementation. So that's a much better term to use. Consulting is way better than freelancer. But I think a lot of people who call themselves a consultant would really, 100% of their work is contracting. So the difference between consulting and contracting is again, with contracting you're an implementer. Somebody else is coming up with the plans, they have an understanding of what the reasons are behind what they're doing and they made all the decisions and now it's your job to just do what you're told. Whereas when you're a consultant, you're more being paid ... Let me put it this way. A contractor, they pay you so they can tell you what to do. When you're consulting, they pay you so you c

00:42 - Introducing Jason Swett Angular on Rails Use the code “rubyrogues” to get $10 off your purchase Twitter Email: jason@angularonrails.com 2:20 - Angular or Rails?4:40 - Real-time data modeling9:00 - Angular CLI11:15 - Structuring Angular and Rails apps16:50 - Should beginners learn Angular or Rails first?19:50 - Building apps and tying Angular and Rails together Tour of Heroes Tutorial Jason’s blog post 25:00 - Angular on Rails feedback28:00 - What’s the hardest part of integrating Angular and Rails?31:00 - Why invest in Angular when it evolves so fast?33:35 - Why did Jason write his book? Angular for Rails Developers Pragmatic Bookshelf 37:50 - How to get the most out of the book42:40 - Panelist Jerome Hardaway Previous Ruby Rogues Episode Vets Who Code DreamForce Picks: Tour of Heroes Tutorial (Jerome) General Assembly (Jerome) DreamForce (Jerome) Adventures in Angular Podcast (Charles and Jason) Angular Remote Conf videos (Charles) NgBook (Jason) How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie (Jason) The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People by Stephen Covey (Jason)Special Guest: Jason Swett. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ruby-rogues--6102073/support .