The One Where We Talk About Our STIs

Welcome to another interesting and lively episode of Remote Ruby, where Jason, Chris, and Andrew dive deep into their personal adventures and tech talks, including a detailed discussion on Single Table Inheritance (STI) in Ruby on Rails, sharing different perspectives, use-cases, and alternatives.  Andrew teases about a big project reveal coming up next week, and Jason, now Podia’s ‘Emotional Support Developer’, shares his expertise in managing projects. The conversation takes humorous turns as the group jokes about Andrew’s propensity to speak before thinking, Jason’s new job title, and their collective appreciation of internet memes.  In the mix, we also touch on the decline of Reddit, affordable tech solutions, Andrew’s late adoption of technologies like NFC and 4k monitors, and the art of creating compelling YouTube thumbnails. Tune in and download now to hear more! 
[00:00:39] Andrew talks about his recent time away he had and went hiking and backpacking in the Grand Canyon with Drew Bragg. 
[00:02:00] Jason reveals he’s been managing projects for the last month, and the term “STI” comes up. Andrew teases about a big project they’ve been working on for an entire year, which is to be released soon. 
[00:03:41] Andrew admits that he often speaks without thinking, which leads to him regretting what he says. 
[00:04:06] Andrew asks Chris why there’s no Go Rails video on STI (Single Table Inheritance), leading to a discussion on what STI is and when it’s useful. Jason explains how he uses at Podia to handle different types of events and to avoid having to create separate tables for each type. 
[00:08:54] Chris asks when it’s not suitable to use STI, and Jason provides an example form Podia where different products use STI, but their site builder’s page sections use a different approach. Jason brings up the concept of JSONB an proposes trying a different approach with subclasses in order to avoid adding an unnecessary column. 
[00:13:12] There’s a discussion on the benefits of utilizing a STI and delegated types in Rials to reduce database complexity, with Jason giving specific examples from Job Boardly. 
[00:18:23] They also discuss the concept of overriding methods in subclasses to control the behavior of specific types of users. 
[00:21:07] Jason further discusses how he leverages Rails’ associations to simplify code related to his location example, allowing Rails to implicitly set the type based on the association. 
[00:23:52] Andrew and Jason discuss sharing British memes with each other and Jason reveals his new title at Podia as an ‘Emotional Support Developer.’ [00:24:54] Chris and Andrew talk about the decline of Reddit and Andrew’s shift away from the platform, and Andrew tells us about Tor Browser and NFC (Near-field communication) tags, leading to a discussion about their usage and benefits. 
[00:28:04] Andrew announces he’s recently switched to 4k monitors and that he has several monitors. Jason jokingly labels him a “boomer boy” because of his late adoption of technologies. 
[00:30:01] Chris talks about his Govee LED strip light and the challenges of setting up such lighting systems. Andrew and Jason recall watching a YouTube video with a thumbnail they found intriguing. 
[00:33:33] Chris shares a story about programming on a TI-83, 84 calculator and downloading an app that would let you rotate it sideways instead of vertical. 
[00:35:39] The episode ends with a sharp turn and a conversation about Andrew’s meal delivery service.

Panelists:Jason CharnesChris OliverAndrew Mason

Sponsor:Honeybadger