CJ Avilla

Podcast episodes about work and life.

Episodes of Build and Learn with Colin Loretz and episodes of Avilla Theory with Nicole Avilla.

Advent of Code, Economic Development

In this episode, Colin and CJ discuss their experience with Advent of Code challenges. They use it as a virtual meetup for their local developer group and the value of solving problems in new languages.They also talk about live streaming using Twitch's built-in Stream Together feature and alternatives like Meld Studio for multi-person streaming setups.Other topics include potentially writing code with voice in the future, resources for learning Ruby like Avdi Grimm's Graceful Dev, and managing home maintenance through preventative care rather than reactively.Advent of Code- The coding challenges we discussedJonathan Paulson's YouTube - Videos solving Advent of Code challenges Bash Bunny on Twitch - Learning Zig with Advent of CodeStream Together on Twitch - Built-in multi-person streamingMeld Studio - Alternative to OBS for Mac streamingScreencasting Course - The course about recording screencastsWhale Quench Talk - Emily's talk about coding with voiceGraceful Dev - Avdi Grimm's site with Ruby resources City Authentic: How the Attention Economy Builds Urban America by David Banks How to Outsmart Your Brain Replit mobile

Coworking: Grit or Quit & Polish Week at Craftwork

This week we're digging into when to hold on and when to call it quits when it comes to a business. The team at Craftwork is paying down tech debt with Polish week. We also chat about USB hubs, llamas, and how to get started on YouTube.BUILDINGCJ: Polish week at Craftwork - cleaning up code formatting, todos, tests, UI polish and clean up, DX clean up, etc.Colin: Coworking space deep diveRunning numbers on business modelsUsing chatGPT to run forecastsSustainabilityBook: Quit by Annie DukeGrit vs QuitSunk Cost & IdentityLEARNINGCJ: Started doing these mob pairing sessions this week. Mike showed some React Native, Drew showed some UX/UI stuff, Nik showed how to fine tune. Got access to the llama2 models and trying to use ankane’s informers gem to run onnx models locally with Ruby.Colin: Curious if you have any tips on getting started with youtube How to eggheadAaron Francis - Screencasting.com TubeBuddySean Cannell - ThinkMedia Ali Abdul Skillshare Course

AI launches, Docs, Calendars

In this episode, we catch up on recent tech events, discussing in detail the AI launches at both OpenAI and GitHub. We chat about the Hu.ma.ne AI pin, and touch on GitHub Universe. We also talk about Docs implementations and the challenges of managing and maintaining code snippets in documentation. Show notes:Docs Astro Starlight - https://starlight.astro.build/Tailwind UI protocol - https://tailwindui.com/templates/protocolAngular - angular.devMarkdoc - https://markdoc.dev/Calendars cal.com infrastructure https://cal.com/infrastructureCalendly - https://calendly.com/Nylas - https://info.nylas.com/Full Calendar - https://fullcalendar.io/StoryFuel.appHumane AI pin https://hu.ma.ne/Github monaspace https://monaspace.githubnext.com/Crochet talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FtbmlZOk44Jupyter notebook episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTmcdixuqcY 

Mint Shutting Down, Project Catchup

Episode 31Intuit is apparently shutting down Mint, pushing folks to Credit Karma Colin's school bus updateBuildingCJ is continuing to build out a comms center for managing customer comms in a scalable way for Craftwork. SAML`Colin is working on the conference room booking app,Likely use jumpstart for all stuff you need when you build something newCJ talks more about his new side project, Story Fuel LearningColin is also learning a lot about sending/receiving audio over socket connectionsThe ‘Enshittification’ of TikTok Or how, exactly, platforms die." from Cory DoctorowThe Imminent Enshittification of the Internet from Gary Marcus

Building Tools and Staying Accountable

In this episode, we'll share updates and talk about what we're learning and working on. First up, is the exciting prospect of buying a short school bus and converting it into a fun project. We'll touch on UI frameworks like PhlexUI, as well as share updates about our experiences with different diet and fitness regimens. We'll chat about some more AI tools. Lastly, we'll share updates on the conference room booking app and the Reno Colective co-working space's accountability group.ResourcesPhlexUI - https://www.phlexui.com/RailsUI - https://railsui.com/ShadCN - https://ui.shadcn.com/v0.dev - https://v0.dev/Macrofactor - https://macrofactorapp.com/Chronometer - https://cronometer.com/LangChain.rb - https://github.com/andreibondarev/langchainrb/Detangle - https://detangle.ai/

Shiny New Tech: LLMs, iPhones and Ray Bans

No cut off date + multi-modal ChatGPTGenerating AI voices with ElevenLabsLooking cool with New Ray Ban + Meta Smart Glasses?Making an epic screencast set up with Screencasting.com from Aaron FrancisWho’s upgrading to the new iPhone 15 with USB CTraveling with international / regional esim cards from AiraloBetting against SaaS? Once from 37SignalsCalculating customer lifetime valueNot having to deal with churnHashicorp and the Business Software License OpenTofu - open terraform initiativeCJ is working on calendaring with FullCalendar and tinkering with Rails generators.Colin is exploring prose linter options for docs and keeping docs quality high without relying purely on human. Working on some open-source project maintenance.Btw, Craftwerk is hiring!

On Learning

This time around Colin and CJ talk about learning styles and how to learn to learn. We highlight a documentation framework called "Diataxis," which provides a structured approach to content categorization, differentiating between tutorials, how-to guides, explanations, and references. The significance of recognizing and adapting to varied learning styles, such as visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. We share our personal experiences and emphasize the importance of diverse teaching methods and creating content even when the subject might have been covered elsewhere. Mentioned were unique projects like an offline Wikipedia on a tablet and a hacked Casio watch that serves as a two-factor authentication generator. The session ends with considerations on video creation and the challenges of live streaming.Resources:Hackers Inc Fitness Episode - https://hackersincorporated.com/episodes/losing-70-lbs-getting-in-shape-and-15-minute-workouts By Mody Tutor - https://www.mybodytutor.com/My Fitness Pal - https://www.myfitnesspal.com/Sendgrid - https://sendgrid.com/Resend - https://resend.com/Rails Conf Webhook Workshop - https://github.com/colinloretz/railsconf-webhooksdiataxis - https://diataxis.fr/Cloudflare Docs - https://developers.cloudflare.com/Crunchy Data Postgres Sandbox - https://www.crunchydata.com/blog/learn-postgres-at-the-playgroundPragmatic Thinking and Learning - https://www.amazon.com/Pragmatic-Thinking-Learning-Refactor-Programmers/dp/1934356050The Dreyfus Model - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreyfus_model_of_skill_acquisition

Everything Old Is New Again & Niching Down

It's the One Year Anniversary of Build & Learn! In this episode we chat about refreshing OAuth tokens and building CRM features with SMS/voice APIs. CJ and Colin also talk about the tradeoffs of building "calm", bootstrapped companies versus venture-backed startups. It seems like everything that is old is new again! What startups from the 2009-2012 vintages do you think could do with some disruption today?Some resources mentioned:GoRailsTwilio FlexFollow along off-pod!@colinloretz on Twitter@cjav_dev on Twitter

Calendar Discord Bot and Turbo Stream Gotchas

In this episode you'll hear about Colin's adventure of building a Google Calendar Discord bot using CloudFlare, mastering Google Calendar APIs, and navigating serverless Postgres with neon.tech. We'll also share our insights on the benefits of being part of Y Combinator, and the unexpected hiccups we faced with Rails' Turbo Streams. Dive in and learn from our experiences!Resources:* https://neon.tech/* Jason's tweet: https://twitter.com/jmcharnes/status/1687286039356829698 * Cloudflare Worker docs: https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/* Jumpstart Pro starter kit for Ruby on Rails: https://jumpstartrails.com/* Turbo Streams documentation: https://turbo.hotwired.dev/handbook/streams* YCombinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/* Google Calendar API docs: https://developers.google.com/calendar/api/guides/overview * Microsoft Startup program for credits: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/startups

Role Reversal & Summer Catchup

Welcome back after the summer break! CJ and Colin get caught up after a summer of adventure and... new job announcements!CJ update Tahoe Time / Family TimeE-Bike with DadBoat / Plane flight simulatorColin update Spending time on the coworking spaceSummer campingRole reversals and announcement We have new jobs!Context switching Colin: product & engineering → developer relationsCJ: developer relations → product & engineeringFewer guard rails, much less narrow focus, wearing more hats, more autonomy, freedom and responsibilityCJ is now at CraftwerkNextJST3 stackMySQL with PlanetscaleDrizzle ORMZod schema validationBack office/Admin CRUD app in RailsColin is now at DiscordCurrently onboarding and learningBuilding a Google Calendar app to get fully up to speed on all the areas of the developer experienceOther happenings: RailsWorld is happening later this year in AmsterdamTickets sold out in 45 minutesSpeakers announced this weekMust download calendar app for MacOS folks: Fantastical

Dave Paola: Agency of Learning

In this episode, we chat with Dave Paola, the founder of the Agency of Learning, an organization aimed at getting early-career developers job-ready, especially developer boot camp graduates. We delve into the history of boot camps, identify key gaps in current education methods, and explore how the Agency of Learning addresses these gaps by simulating a real-team environment and emphasizing technical and non-technical skills.Resources and LinksVisit the Agency of Learning to learn more about Dave's innovative approach to junior engineer hiring and management.For a more in-depth understanding of teaching for mastery, check out Sal Khan's illuminating TED Talk.Get involved with open-source contributions and support social good with Ruby for Good.Discover Casa, a case management open-source app that supports volunteer work for children in foster care.Dive deeper into the tech industry's professional growth and career progression with Engineering Ladders.Check out "Engineering Management for the Rest of Us" by Sarah Drasner for relatable and pragmatic advice on engineering management.Read David Marquet's transformative leadership book, "Turn the Ship Around" for a novel perspective on leadership and management.Connect with our guest on Twitter @dpaola2 for more enriching content and discussions.

Chris Oliver: Building a Life (and Businesses) on Rails

In this episode, we talk with Chris Oliver about his deliberate approach to building GoRails and his other businesses on Rails. In a tech world that only seems to be moving faster and faster, we discuss the slow and steady path he has followed to create a fulfilling life for himself and his team while shipping awesome Rails things for his customers.Some links to things we discussed:Build Your Saas Episode: Nobody in SaaS wants to talk about thisBuild Your SaaS Episode: Super Fun SaaS Sales Tax (Part Deux)Die With Zero bookSome of the things Chris and his team work on:GoRails Jumpstart RailsHatchbox HostingThe Remote Ruby Podcast and many other things you can find at https://excid3.com/

Streamlining global ingress with ngrok

In this episode, we're joined by Alan Shreve, the founder and CEO of ngrok, to discuss the future of software development and the emergence of innovative tools that simplify complex tasks -- like ingress. We talk about ngrok's solid approach to error handling, which enhances troubleshooting and user experience by assigning unique codes to each error. The conversation also delves into the evolution of ngrok, an "ingress as a service" platform designed to streamline the setup of web application infrastructure by abstracting complexities of networking, thereby reducing your workload.We address the challenges in distributed systems and the importance of automating processes, focusing on the role of tools like Heroku, Vercel, and CloudFlare in managing infrastructure and security. We explore the concept of edge computing and globally distributed applications, envisioning two potential futures - one with advanced storage layers handling global distribution and another where applications can split between the origin and the global edge.The discussion also highlights the shift in the industry away from tasks like memory management and assembly language and the rise of cloud-based tools, which lowers the barrier to entry for new developers. Despite the potential pitfalls of abstraction, like the reduced need for developers to tinker and learn, we see this as a positive development. We wrap by emphasizing the end goal of software development - delivering a product that serves the customer's needs, facilitated by tools that simplify and standardize the development process.Resources:ngrok: ingress as a service - https://ngrok.comIntroducing ngrok-go - https://ngrok.com/blog-post/ngrok-gongrok-go library - https://github.com/ngrok/ngrok-goIntroducing ngrok-rs - https://ngrok.com/blog-post/ngrok-rsVim plugin for GitHub CoPilot - https://github.com/github/copilot.vimStripe's Embeddable Payment Components - https://stripe.com/docs/payments/payment-element

Forest Bathing, RailsConf, and Developer Communities

CJ and Colin are back to chat about getting outside, recap the recent RailsConf and discuss building and participating in developer communities in 2023.Getting OutsideThe Nature Fix bookOutside 365RailsCamp in HawaiiRailsConf 2023 and Webhooks WorkshopWebhooks Workshop Github Repo Marp Markdown Presentation ToolRuby Central YouTube Channel RubyConf San DiegoSome other cool events/conferences that we've attendedBlue Ridge Ruby ConfRails SaaSRailsConfRubyConfRailsWorldLaraConWordCampGDCApple’s WWDCGoogle I/OStartup WeekendsNASA Space AppsFollow us on Twitter@buildandlearn_@cjav_dev@colinloretz

ChatGPT, LLMs, OpenAI, doom or boon?

In this episode, Colin and CJ discuss using the new GPT tools for work and play.Open AILarge language modelsGenerative AIHow do we use it, and is it going to be doom & gloom?How We Use ItBrainstorming & riffing on ideas I was building something in React and hadn’t touched React in a few years. I had all this iteration going on in my components to generate dynamic content. Still, I wanted the topmost component to be able to have references to all these components to download them all as images in a zip file.Assistance with math-based things like animation or rendering graphics Example: I had to display a bunch of circles in a 2nd plane in a random patternComputers are pretty good at thatLearning how to do something new faster Explain this to me like I’m 5SummarizingWe use Descript for editing this podcastShifting the tone of writing, building a writing styleWriting video scriptsFinding obscure informationStory arcsBrushes to write tailwind classesJokesDnD character sheetsBing to find esoteric star wars character that’s buried on WookiepediaDoom and gloom or boon?What does this mean for the future?Privacy & security concerns Voice clones and scams (create a safe word!)Productivity + time Are we just going to be expected to be more productive with more output because cApItaLIsMConstitutional AI (Anthropic) give it principles to train on vs having human inputhttps://www.anthropic.com/index/core-views-on-ai-safetyChatGPT coauthored a PR to a major open-source projectvia Ruby Weekly: How long is it until ChatGPT makes a pull request to Rails? Oh, it (sort of) just happened. Ultimately it's still under the name of Rails core team member Guillermo Iguaran, however.Everything in this pull request, including the code, tests, changelog, commit message, pull request title and description has been created by ChatGPT with some guidance. If you believe ChatGPT is infringing your copyright please let me know.People to follow(Written by Notion AI)Here are 5 social media influencers to follow to stay up to date about AI:Rachel Woods (@the.rachel.woods on TikTok, @rachel_l_woods on Twitter)Logan.GPT (dev advocate for OpenAI)Swyx (shares a lot of thoughts on AI)Lex Fridman (MIT researcher and AI podcaster)Siraj Raval (AI educator and YouTuber)ToolsGithub CopilotCopilot X for VS Code & VS ExtensionCopilot DocsCopilot CLICopilot VoiceCopilot for PRsResourcesWolfram Alpha - How ChatGPT worksSiraj Raval - Automated AI YouTube channelthe.rachel.woods on safe wordsInvisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for MenAnthropic - AI SafetyRubyWeekly - ChatGPT Co-authored PR

Digging into the HackerRank Survey 2023

In this episode we dig into the HackerRank annual survey that was released a few months ago for 2023 including the top in demand skills from employers in this uncertain tech and economic environment. Note from Colin & CJ: This episode was recorded in November 2022. It is amazing how much changes in a few months.Languages By Volume of HackerRanksJavaPythonSQLC++JavascriptBashC#GoTypescriptRPHPCSwiftRubyMethodology for languages To estimate employer demand for specific programming languages, we looked at HackerRank Work tests where a specific programming language was required, or where specific library questions were asked. Skill demand was estimated by the number of HackerRank Work tests using specific library questions.On the preference – or supply–side, we tracked submitted languages by candidates when they have multiple options available, as well as their proficiency in those languages. We also included HankerRank Community practice data to get a full spectrum of skill preferences.Notable these results are not survey results like the Stack Overflow surveyDemand for most languages growing, but not equallyIs there potential bias in the types of companies that use HackerRank? Companies that are more likely to use Java for exampleTop 5 Skills in demand Problem SolvingMachine LearningREST APIsReactHTML/CSS/JSREST API shows sustained drama-free demand growth 😂Keep an eye on Go and TypeScriptOutlookTech hiring (and everything else) hit headwinds in 2022Overall, the tech industry continues to growingOther Links MentionedArt of Product Episode Episode 218Build Your SaaSFounder's Quest PodcastBuild and Learn around the webTwitter: @buildandlearn_Colin: @colinloretzCJ: @cjav_dev

Keith Casey: Webhooks & webhooks.fyi

In this episode about webhooks.fyi, we're joined by Keith Casey from ngrok. You'll hear about webhooks.fyi an information-rich resource for learning how to build and consume webhooks. webhooks.fyi is an open source knowledge base and directory listing and analyzing different webhook providers. We discuss webhook security, signature verification, forward compatibility, and more. Other Links from the Showhttps://webhooks.fyingrok.comWebhooks to Revolution the Web from @progriumWhat are Webhooks The Self Provisioning Runtime CaseySoftwareBuild and Learn around the web- Twitter: @buildandlearn_- Colin: @colinloretz- CJ: @cjav_dev

Chelsea Otakan: Design and build systems, not just features

This week we are joined by Chelsea Otakan, infamously also known as @chexee on most of the internet. Chelsea is a product designer and front-end developer, currently working at Lattice. In this episode, we learn more about Chelsea's design origin story, her philosophies on product design, and why you should "build a skateboard, not a wheel".Chelsea's design philosophies- Ship quickly, ship for the user- Design is continuous- Design and build systems, not just features- Don't be afraid to dig deep- Critique early, often, and with everyoneOther Links from the Show- Shopify article on creating a "quality elevator" from Kyle Peatt: The system always kicks back - Chelsea's portfolio and work at Chexee.meBuild and Learn around the web- Twitter: @buildandlearn_- Colin: @colinloretz- CJ: @cjav_dev

Custom codegen for SDKs

In this episode of Build and Learn, we discuss code generation (codegen) and how Stripe uses it to generate SDKs for its APIs automatically. We talk about how a declarative shape of an API (such as Open API spec or GraphQL schema) can be fed into a tool to generate an SDK in a specific programming language. This process helps ensure that the SDKs are always in sync with the API and that any changes to the API are automatically reflected in the SDKs. Most SDKs today are still hand-written, but automatic generation is becoming more popular. We'll touch on the tradeoff between readable code and automatically generated code, which can be quite long and complex.  You'll also hear how the Ruby clients for Orbit were likely written by hand and may not be up-to-date.Resources:Richard Marmorstein's Strangeloop talk about codegen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgRreyw-NlgCJ's RubyConf 2022 talk about codegen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm0fgIqfsO8Stainless API company: https://stainlessapi.com/Open API Spec: https://swagger.io/specification/ Stripe API Spec: https://github.com/stripe/openapiSwagger codegen: https://swagger.io/tools/swagger-codegen/ Orbit Ruby Activities gem: https://github.com/orbit-love/ruby-orbit-activities

Building Developer Relations Teams with Trag

In this podcast episode, we are diving into the world of developer advocacy and developer relations with Chris Traganos, aka "Trag."

IC to Lead: Building Confidence In Your Skills with Lindsay Barrett

In this episode, you'll hear Lindsay's path from graphic designer to support engineer and how she now manages a team of support engineers. We discuss what this transition has looked like for her as well as the training and learnings she undertook along the way.In the second half of the episode, we dig into more specific tactics that her and her team have encountered like supporting customers through API version migrations, authentication issues and squashing bugs with their product engineering team. ResourcesLindsay Barrett on LinkedInLeadDevSupport Driven Slack, Podcast, Blog, Job Board, EventsGrowth SpaceEngineering Management for the Rest of Us by Sarah DrasnerWilliam Vincent's Django BooksQuestions or feedback for the show? You can DM us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/buildandlearn_

AWS Amplify and Front-end Frameworks with Erik Hanchett

Welcome to the episode on AWS Amplify and Front-end frameworks! In this episode, we delve into Erik's experience as a developer and discuss some of the front-end trends he is seeing. We also highlight the importance of building small projects to learn new programming languages and frameworks. We touch briefly on server-side generation and rendering trends, Shopify's acquisition of Remix, and the dilemma of choice that can arise when faced with so many options. We also discuss the advent of code-style challenges to build more small projects and continue learning. In the second half of the episode, Erik provides an in-depth look at AWS Amplify and its various components that can be used to build full-stack applications. If you're interested in learning more about AWS Amplify or want to hear about Erik's developer journey, this episode is for you!

Getting hired as a developer

The podcast discusses various ways to go about finding a job, with a focus on the tech industry. We'll talk about making a list of the tools and companies you're interested in, doing outbound and inbound outreach, networking, and preparing for interviews. We'll also get into some resources for practicing algorithms and communities to join.

Content creation for developers

This episode of Build & Learn is all about content creation for developers. We'll discuss various types of content, including tweets, blog posts, newsletters, live streaming, and YouTube videos. We'll also share some resources that developers can use to get started with content creation..

Code Reviews: Giving and Receiving Feedback

This episode is all about giving and receiving feedback via code reviews. Use some of these tips and tricks in your next code review.

Build vs. Buy

This episode is all about the build versus buy decision that every software company has to make at some point. We discuss whether it makes more sense to build something from scratch or buy an existing solution. We also talk about the tradeoffs of time and money that come with each option. In the end, we conclude that it's usually best to buy an existing solution unless you have a very specific need that can only be met by building something from scratch.

PTO and Taking Time Off

This week we dig into "unlimited" PTO and taking take off from work.

The 2022 Stack Overflow Survey

In this episode, CJ and Colin dig into the results of the 2022 StackOverflow Survey including the most loved and dreaded technologies and how developers are learning in 2022.

The First Pancake: Hello World

In this episode, CJ and Colin share their origin stories and what led them to become software developers. They also set the stage for what to expect on the show - building and learning from software development but also life. Audio note: this episode was recorded via Zoom. Look forward to better audio in Episode 2!

Introducing Build & Learn

Welcome to Build & Learn, a podcast about software development and developing ourselves as software engineers. Hosted by CJ Avilla and Colin Loretz.

Health: Fast update

Fasting, Greyson crashes his bike.

Parenting - School in the age of COVID-19

We review the Peloton stationary bike and chat about the school opening plans. Use Peloton referral code PV6BBX for $100 towards accessories at purchase!

Parenting - Piano 🎵

We recently started playing piano and Nicole and the boys are taking piano lessons. Here's what we've learned so far :)

Real Estate - Tear down walls

We're in the middle of a mini remodel project, closing a wall that we tore down a couple of years ago. We joke about how we're not craftspeople, but doing our best!

Parenting - Home Birth vs Hospital birth

Homebirth or Hospital birth? In this episode, we share our experience with both and also talk about why we recommend doulas.

Real Estate - Second Home vs. Rental

Thinking about investing your money into real estate? In this episode, we talk about the difference between investing your money into a second home vs. an investment property. We also discuss the benefits of having a short term rental property.

Finances - Groceries

In this episode, we share how we've turned "budgeting" into a game and how we have been able to reduce spending on groceries and personal items.

Health - Halloween

Trying to avoid all of the Halloween candy? In this episode, we discuss how to quickly get rid of ALL of the candy and discuss having non-candy options for kids.

Disneyland - The secrets to a successful trip.

Our Disneyland secrets. Where we stay, what we eat with dietary restrictions, our rest spots, and how we get in all of our favorite rides in one day.

Relationships - Maintaining Friendships

It's important to create a supportive community. In this episode, we discuss how we keep up with our local friends and give you ideas on how to create your own community.

Parenting - Raising Kids Ages 2-6

Raising kids takes a village. Let us help you with a few things we have learned over the years.

Relationships - How to avoid the crazy cycle

It can be easy to fall into a crazy cycle with your partner. In this episode we talk about how to nurture your marriage and how to get yourself out of these crazy cycles.

Relationships - Wedding Toasts

Need to plan your next wedding speech? In this episode, we give you our wedding toast secrets!