chrisblunt.com
Chris Blunt

Hi, I'm Chris.

I'm a software developer and consultant based in Plymouth, UK. This site is a collection of tutorials, thoughts and things I've learned in code, life and running my business.

Today, I help people and organisations who use Ruby on Rails. I enjoy learning and experimenting with tools and technologies, as well as the art of business. This means I'm often dabbling with new languages and frameworks, and posting what I learn. My now page describes what currently has my attention.

You can follow and contact me on GitHub icon github Instagram icon instagram LinkedIn icon linkedin

Ruby on Rails: 5 Checks to Make Before Launching Your App

Photo by @spacex via Unsplash. Continue reading →

Posted 12 March 2018 in ruby, rails.

Ruby on Rails: Running Tests with Guard and Docker

Guard is a great tool for quickly running your Rails app tests/specs as your develop the code. As you edit and change the files in your app, Guard can trigger tests specific to the files you are modifying. Continue reading →

Posted 19 February 2018 in ruby, rails, docker.

Rails on Docker: Using Yarn to Manage Frontend Assets

Rails 5.1 introduced the front-end package manager Yarn into the standard tooling for new Rails projects. Yarn allows you to declare and manage your app’s frontend dependencies (such as CSS frameworks and Javascript libraries) in a way similar to how Bundler manages Rails dependencies (gems). Continue reading →

Posted 24 November 2017 in rails, ruby, docker.

Rails on Docker: Using Docker Compose with Your Ruby on Rails Apps

In the previous tutorial, you learned how to get a simple Ruby on Rails app up and running on Docker containers. Continue reading →

Posted 9 September 2017 in rails, ruby, docker.

Rails on Docker: Getting Started with Docker and Ruby on Rails

Docker is a fantastic tool for isolating your app and its environment, and allows easy distribution and state-replication across multiple environments (dev, test, beta, prod, etc.). Using Docker can get rid of the “it works on my machine” problem, and help you to easily scale your app as it grows. Continue reading →

Posted 7 July 2017 in rails, ruby, docker.

How to Fix Missing SD Card on Android Emulator

Whilst testing an app on the Jelly Bean emulator, I couldn’t get the emulator to mount the SD card. Calls to Environment.getExternalStorageState() would always return Environment.MEDIA_REMOVED. Continue reading →

Posted 19 May 2017 in tips, android, emulator.

How to Pass Data From Rails to Javascript / Coffeescript

If you want to pass data between Rails and Coffeescript in your apps, you’ll find that interpolation doesn’t work. For example: Continue reading →

Posted 7 May 2017 in rails, ruby, coffeescript.

3 Ways to Keep Your Ruby on Rails Apps Healthy

Ruby on Rails is a great framework for building modern web applications. But as with any technology, things move on quickly. Without proper care and attention, the web apps and sites you build using Rails can start to degrade. This means slow pages, security vulnerabilities and your users seeing error screens. Continue reading →

Posted 27 April 2017 in rails, ruby.

Rails on Docker: Quickly Create or Update Your Gemfile.lock

As I migrate all of my Rails apps to Docker, I’ve learned to avoid making changes to the Gemfile whenever possible. Continue reading →

Posted 20 July 2016 in rails, docker, bundler.

Rails: Generating Polymorphic URLs when Model name does not match Route

Given a slugged generic model for which you want to generate a URL at runtime, you can usually just call: Continue reading →

Posted 29 February 2016 in rails, howto, programming.