Aaron Saray
Appears in 115 Episodes
Should you manage roles and permissions with a UI?
Just about every application needs the concept of roles and permissions. Often, there's a desire to allow non-developers to manage roles and permissions in the applica...
The changing value of books throughout your career
You might have a book that really shaped how you write code today. Some books make more sense if you read them later in your career. We discuss the changing value of b...
Some reasons to write a down method in your migrations
This is a surprisingly controversial topic. In this episode, we share why we write down migration methods, and it's probably not the reason you're thinking of.No call ...
Managing a micro-manager
It's frustrating to have a client, boss, or even co-worker attempt to micro-manage you. We share some tips on how to make the working relationship better.Need help bui...
A couple handy features in PHPStorm
Developers spend a large part of their day inside an editor. For a full-featured editor like PHPStorm, there may be some useful features you've never noticed. We discu...
Tools 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...
Harnessing 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` - Wha...
How 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 causi...
Lots 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.Read more of our thoughts at masteringlaravel.io
How 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 ...
When 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 t...
Is 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 projec...
Interviewing 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...
The 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...
Changing our mind about queues in testing
We'll admit it: sometimes we change our mind. In this episode, we discuss how we used to setup queues in Laravel tests, and why we changed it.Show Notes00:00 Sometimes...
Too many rules?
Rules in programming can be extremely helpful, especially on a team. But is it possible to go too far with rules? We discuss a couple recent scenarios where we could h...
Keeping an open mind with other languages and tools
Before you vent some frustration on another tool or programming community, take a deep breath and think about why you're irritated? We talk about our own reactions to ...
What we look for in a package
We have such a rich ecosystem of packages in the Laravel and PHP community. But can there be too much of a good thing? What do we consider before adding a small packag...
Blogging versus tweeting
Laravel has a vibrant community of people teaching and sharing what they've learned. What makes a good tip? Should you tweet or blog or both?00:00 Why blogging is bene...
Knowing when to use new language or framework features
New PHP version! New Laravel version! So exciting! But when does it make sense to upgrade, and when does it make sense to start using new language or framework feature...
Going on a bug hunt
How can a bug be fun, and not frustrating? When you treat it like a puzzle. Let's walk through a recent bug with CSV mime type validation and go deep down the rabbit h...
Thinking about the user, even in the details
User experience is a term we hear a lot as developers, but it can mean different things depending on the context. We discuss a recent project where decisions around wh...
Why do you write your tests like that?
We discuss two "interesting" patterns we've observed in a number of Laravel projects. Let's take a step back and think about why we write tests the way we do.1:06 - On...
Avoid painting yourself into a corner
We've all been there: a thorny piece of code works, but it seems like there must be a better way to simplify it or make it more readable. We share one example when thi...
Look before you leap
Hear about some cool new tool or coding technique on Twitter? Great, jump right in and use it on your biggest production app! Or . . . maybe don't. We share some thoug...
Don't plan to do too much
Do you always finish everything you plan on doing? Probably not, very few developers do. The problem isn't always how you work. Some of it is how you plan. We discuss ...
Isolate the problem
What do you do when you're stuck? Aaron shares a tip on how he breaks down a problem when he's feeling stuck.Are you stuck with your Laravel/PHP project? We can help! ...
What should I test?
We all know we should write tests, but what should we test? Is there anything it doesn't make sense to test? We talk through a high-level approach to how we do feature...
Picking a strategy for translation in Laravel
There are different ways to structure your translation assets in Laravel. We discuss how we approached this on a recent project, and why we chose the method we did.Che...
Should a factory follow all business rules?
Factories are really useful in tests, but could they give you a false sense of security if they don't generate models exactly like a user of your application would? We...