RailsConf Roundup 2021
Tags: ruby, rails, speaking
Published: 2021-05-19 14:53:13

# RailsConf 2021

[RailsConf](https://railsconf.com/) wrapped up in mid-April with a virtual gathering, featuring attendees from 61 different countries. The talks are now available to all on [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/c/rubycentral/videos), so if you're looking for some suggestions on where to start, please allow me to curate a list for you.

# Recommended Talks

#### Refactoring: A developer's guide to writing well

This is my favorite session that I've had the opportunity to watch thus far. Writing is such a critical component of our jobs (and lives), and this primer is presented in such a friendly manner.

{% youtube BbIILUSmSk4 %}

#### Hiring is Not Hazing

If you're associated with a tech company, and reading this around the time that this published - you're probably hiring. Whether you are or not, take this opportunity to evaluate the process you use to lead to better outcomes for candidates and the organization.

{% youtube KLHYZT2I28k %}

#### Missing Guide to Service Objects in Rails

"Service objects" as a concept means so many different things to different people. This talk introduces different philosophies people take in constructing service objects and presents the trade-offs of each.

{% youtube XH1fbvexqyU %}

#### A Day in the Life of a Ruby Object

Garbage collection, mark and sweep, page size, memory allocation - all concepts that can feel very intimidating. However, when presented so masterfully eloquently, this talk is a great way to make these topics feel more approachable.

{% youtube PuNbdfdFBjk %}

#### ViewComponents in the Real World

Encapsulating view logic and presentation in [ViewComponents](https://viewcomponent.org/) helps promote reusable and testable objects to the view layer of your Rails app.

{% youtube QoetqsBCsbE %}

#### Speed up your test suite by throwing computers at it

This has a number of keen insights on improving the performance of your overall test suite.

{% youtube T3TipTdx_2k %}

#### Engineering MBA: Be The Boss of Your Own Work

I'll be honest: I did not actually watch this talk. But let's just say I'm **very** familiar with the subject matter and the presentation.

{% youtube 6ldCGo29w5g %}

# Talks I Look Forward To

I did not have the opportunity to watch everything I wanted to during the conference. Here is a small sampling of what's still on my list.

#### The History of Making Mistakes

As someone that has _certainly_ never made a mistake before, I can't wait to learn what all the fuss is about.

{% youtube har1kdHqCDw %}

#### How Reference Librarians Can Help Us Help Each Other

Anything that talks about how awesome librarians are is ok by me. I look forward to hearing more about how I can approach my day-to-day work with the mindset and tools that a reference librarian brings to bear in their profession.

{% youtube A2Tr0DWfwAE %}

#### What the fork()?

Need something to be faster? We'll fork a process and it'll magically be better, because concurrency...right? I'll let you know after I give this talk a view.

{% youtube 4crIuSj-irQ %}

> This post originally published on [The Gnar Company blog](https://blog.thegnar.co/railsconf-roundup-2021).

# How about you?

What have you watched from RailsConf 2021? What are you excited to watch?

_Learn more about how The Gnar [builds Ruby on Rails applications](https://www.thegnar.com/software-development/ruby-on-rails-development)._