Justin Searls

Portrait of Justin Searls
Person An icon of a human figure Status
Double Agent
Hash An icon of a hash sign Code Name
Agent 002
Location An icon of a map marker Location
Orlando, FL

His mission

(he chose to accept it)
Unearth bugs like no one else can
“
I'm the only full-time dev at my company, so I love this kind of video series. Even though you're not talking to me, it's easy to pretend that you recorded these "conversations" directly for my benefit. Being a solo dev slows my growth for all the obvious reasons, so I make sure to fill in the gap with content like yours.
Lee Stetson
via YouTube

Recent Deployments

Journey
Field reporting
Package
Open source
Tasks
Type systems
Beaker
Mad science

Tools & Tradecraft

Ruby

Keynote

Receiving feedback

Dishing hot takes

Golfing

Noteworthy Achievements

Co-founded a software agency back in 2011; contributed less than one might think as its people and clients surpassed all expectations
Peaked too young by keynoting at each of RubyConf 2014, RubyKaigi 2016, and RailsConf 2017
Cornered the market in over-opinionated mocking libraries—actively maintaining Mocktail for Ruby and testdouble.js for JavaScript
Gave a keynote in Japanese once at Ooedo Ruby 2020.​.. that was scary
Spared myself and others a lot of pain by knowing myself well enough to avoid going into management—there’s no shame in being a practitioner!

Reports from the Field

  1. The future of Rails test data management

    A year ago, I created one of the most ambitious, creative, and potentially impactful libraries of my career… and I never told anyone about it. Here's why
    Time An icon of a clock Publish Date
    November 13, 2023
    Person An icon of a human figure Authors
    Justin Searls
    Category An icon of a paper organzier Categories
    Testing
    Rails

  3. 16 things you believe about software

    Over 6 years ago, I made up an unscientific personality quiz as a joke…and people can't help themselves—they're still filling it out! Here's what they think
    Time An icon of a clock Publish Date
    October 10, 2023
    Person An icon of a human figure Authors
    Justin Searls
    Category An icon of a paper organzier Categories
    Community

  4. The TLDR on Ruby's new TLDR testing framework

    It's 2023, and it's time for a totally new way to run your tests. Here's how the new TLDR test runner can save you from a life of avoiding your slow tests
    Time An icon of a clock Publish Date
    October 3, 2023
    Person An icon of a human figure Authors
    Justin Searls
    Category An icon of a paper organzier Categories
    Testing

  6. The looming demise of the 10x developer

    Tech's most contentious debates end with people talking over each other, but they make way more sense viewed through the lens of inter-generational conflict.
    Time An icon of a clock Publish Date
    July 12, 2023
    Person An icon of a human figure Authors
    Justin Searls
    Category An icon of a paper organzier Categories
    Industry
    Career

  8. Field Report: RubyKaigi

    Can't make it to RubyKaigi 2023 in Japan? Fake it! Impress your friends and colleagues with all these facts you could only know if you were actually there!
    Time An icon of a clock Publish Date
    May 10, 2023
    Person An icon of a human figure Authors
    Justin Searls
    Category An icon of a paper organzier Categories
    Ruby

  9. Never Staff to the Peak

    For a decade, engineering leaders were taught to solve every problem with more full-time hires. There was always a better solution. Are you ready for it?
    Time An icon of a clock Publish Date
    April 3, 2023
    Person An icon of a human figure Authors
    Justin Searls
    Category An icon of a paper organzier Categories
    Industry
    Leadership

  10. How to tell if AI threatens YOUR job

    Can ChatGPT help do your job? If so, how can you be sure AI won't eventually replace you? Spot whether your job is at risk and what you can do about it.
    Time An icon of a clock Publish Date
    March 14, 2023
    Person An icon of a human figure Authors
    Justin Searls
    Category An icon of a paper organzier Categories
    Industry
    Career

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