No Compromises

Have you ever struggled working with a third party on one of your developer projects? How do you handle that, keeping it professional and also still able to meet your commitments?

In today's episode of No Compromises, Aaron and Joel discuss what happened on a recent project and how they think about handling those kinds of difficulties while still having boundaries.

And if you're looking for help on your Laravel project, get in touch!

JSON fields can be very useful, but when is a good time to include them in your database design?

In today's episode of No Compromises, Aaron and Joel use a couple examples from recent projects to talk through reasons they would and would not use a JSON field.

• (00:00) - Debating JSON fields in database design

Static types and tooling have increased the quality of our apps, but sometimes certain features in your Laravel app don't play nicely with static analysis.

In today's episode, we talk about how we approach the tradeoffs around making a tool happy without changing how you write code.

• (00:00) - Our approach to static analysis in a Laravel app

I write a lot about testing in the Mastering Laravel newsletter. Ever wonder why it's a topic I care so much about?

In today's episode, we discuss that question and come up with a few different reasons.

• (00:00) - Why do we like testing so much?

What does it really mean when you say you know a particular technology? On today's episode, we discuss this using TypeScript as a specific example.

• (00:00) - What does it mean to "know" something?

Programmers are not shy about telling other programmers when they're wrong. But what can we learn in a situation like his? How can we be wrong with style? In this episode, Aaron and Joel talk about times they've been wrong throughout their career and what they've learned.

• (00:00) - Aaron admits he was wrong

We can't know everything, so throughout each day we inevitably have questions. On today's episode, we discuss different approaches we have used when we need a little help.

• (00:00) - Where do you go when you need help?

The dreaded bug report: this app is slow. Ok, but what is slow? I have so many questions!

In today's episode, we discuss our approach to getting more information out of that initial bug report, and a methodical approach to locate and quantify the slowness.

If you'd like help setting up tools like Xdebug profiling, send us a message.

Writing tests that communicate with a third party can be a little tricky, but we've found an approach that balances speed and confidence.

In today's episode, we share that approach and talk through a strategy of how frequently to run tests that talk to the outside world.

• (00:00) - Why would your tests ever talk to an external service?

I don't have time to write an API spec. We're not a giant team. We don't have external users of our API.

I've said all these things in the past, but in today's episode, we discuss why you should still consider writing a specification for your Laravel API.

• (00:00) - Should you write a spec for your API?