No Compromises

By Joel Clermont and Aaron SarayTechnology

No Compromises episodes

August 22, 2023Tools should work for you, not boss you around
PHPStan is a great tool, but if you're not careful it might push you to write code in a way you wouldn't normally write it. How can you balance a tool's strengths with your team's style of writing code?
(00:00) - We really like PHPStan
(01:30) - Can you go too far with a tool, though?
(03:40) - Things to consider if you're newer to Laravel or PHP
(05:30) - PHPStan has helped us find bugs
(06:25) - Accessing route parameters in a type-safe way
(09:22) - Know how the tool works, to make it work for you
(11:13) - Return types on controller actions
(14:22) - Silly bit

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16 min
August 08, 2023Harnessing that post-conference excitement
It is so exciting to watch a conference talk announcing some new tool or feature. Now you're back at work and your fingers are itching to type `composer install` - What do you do?
(00:00) - Post-conference excitement is a real thing
(01:11) - The reality of how conferences are structured
(03:50) - Talks share things you could do not things you should do
(05:00) - How to apply new ideas in your daily work
(06:08) - Specific challenges within a team
(11:40) - Silly bit

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14 min
July 25, 2023How do you tell a teammate they might be wrong?
Programmers have opinions on things. Shocking, I know! How can we tell someone we think there's a better way to do something, without being counterproductive and causing needless confrontation?
(00:00) - Programmers have opinions on a lot of topics
(02:25) - Start by asking questions
(03:45) - Get smart with leading questions
(05:25) - Do you always have to call out something you think is wrong?
(07:15) - Conflict doesn't mean confrontation

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10 min
July 11, 2023Lots of different ways to test record creation
We get a bit nerdy here and dive deep on a few different ways to test record creation.
(00:00) - We like testing
(01:20) - One way to test creating a record
(03:00) - Limitations of fetch the record with first()
(05:30) - Considerations when using latest() in tests
(07:00) - An approach for using auto-increment IDs
(08:05) - Silly bit

Read more of our thoughts at masteringlaravel.io
11 min
June 27, 2023How do you avoid distractions?
Do you maintain laser focus when you work, or are you a normal human being? How do you balance use of email and social media for legitimate work reasons without going down the rabbit hole of distraction? Stop your work and listen to this episode for answers. It's not a distraction, it's an investment.
(00:00) - Feeling the pull of distraction when trying to focus on work
(01:30) - Email - the biggest distraction
(03:00) - The world won't end if you keep email closed
(06:00) - Setting expectations with others
(07:45) - Being a hero might actually be unfair to others
(08:20) - Productivity is really about well-being, not cranking out work
(09:00) - Be realistic when planning
(10:00) - Experiment and find what works for you
(11:30) - Social media as a distraction
(13:00) - Silly bit
16 min
June 13, 2023When should you use final classes or private properties?
The discussion of final classes was a hot topic recently. We had planned on discussing this even before it came up on Twitter, but here is our unsolicited opinion.
Is there some use case we missed? Aaron wants to hear about it.
Show notes
(00:00) - Final classes, the hot topic on Twitter
(01:00) - Aaron's opinion has evolved over the years
(03:15) - Packages vs applications
(04:00) - What about making PHPStan happy?
(06:45) - What about reducing support burden on package maintainers?
(10:05) - What about private properties?
(11:15) - Aaron wants to be wrong
(11:45) - Silly bit

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14 min
May 30, 2023Is it ever ok to delay writing tests?
We always write tests, and can't imagine working without them. But is there ever a time where it might make sense to delay writing some tests until later in the project? Let us tell you a story about a recent project where we made that decision.
(00:00) - Our secret podcast agenda
(01:00) - Project setup
(02:30) - Tests are good, but they do add time
(03:15) - Some ambiguity on "is this what the user needs/wants?"
(06:00) - Discussing the decision to delay tests as a team
(07:15) - Conclusion - it's the audience, not the timeline
(08:10) - Side benefit of knowledge sharing
(09:15) - Silly bit

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13 min
May 16, 2023Should an Eloquent relationship include soft-deleted records?
Show notes:
(00:00) - Relationships and trashed records
(02:00) - One-to-one relationship
(02:39) - Are soft-deletes bad then?
(03:30) - Balancing end user and developer experience
(05:00) - One-to-many relationships are even more problematic
(08:00) - Does the specific domain matter?
(10:15) - Agree on the rule as a team
(10:50) - Silly bit

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14 min
May 02, 2023Interviewing other developers like a human
Some interviewing techniques can be pretty disrespectful of the applicant's time or humanity. On today's episode we talk about some ways of approaching an interview to put the person at ease and help them to do their best.
Show notes:
00:00 Our different work backgrounds
01:00 How to kick off a technical discussion in an interview
03:45 How to leverage their existing experience
04:50 Learn about their communication style
06:00 Figuring out how someone thinks about a problem
09:30 Don't code review actual company code
11:50 Silly bit
16 min
April 18, 2023The benefits of working with other developers
Maybe you're a solo dev or working on a small team. What benefits are there in widening your circle of developers? We talk through our own personal experiences in this episode.
Show notes:
(00:00) - Topic intro: the benefits of working with someone else
(02:46) - Code review can actually be nice
(04:45) - The benefits of being "challenged"
(06:20) - Picking up tips just seeing how someone else works
(06:53) - Human skills are important too
13 min