Development Methodologies and Practices

10 posts · Nov 2010 – Oct 2022

What this trail covers

Shopify has evolved its engineering practices by emphasizing techniques that minimize code reading and maximize reliance on automated checks like the type system and linters. This includes strategies for finding entry points, making initial breaking changes, climbing the callstack with build errors, and updating recommended code during the downswing. The focus is on codifying standards in linters, leveraging the type system for stricter argument validation and exhaustive switches, and optimizing.

All Shopify trails

Oct 2022How to Write Code Without Having to Read It - ShopifyThis post details strategies for minimizing code reading during development by leveraging build errors, linters, and the type system. It introduces techniques for finding entry points, making breaking changes early, and sweeping down the callstack. It also emphasizes updating linters and leaning on the type system (e.g., tagged unions, exhaustive switches) to enforce valid argument combinations and prevent future errors. The post advocates for replacing comments with automated checks like unit tests and lint errors.
May 2021Other Driven Developments - ShopifyThis post introduces and elaborates on 'Grep Driven Development' and 'Copy/Paste Driven Development' as valuable, albeit often overlooked, development methodologies. It argues for the importance of consistent naming conventions to enhance code searchability and refactorability, drawing parallels to the 'rule of three' for abstraction. It also advocates for a mindful approach to copy-pasting, emphasizing its efficiency, the humility it requires, and the skill set it demands, particularly in writing copy-pasteable code and understanding edge cases. The post frames these as deliberate practices that, when applied thoughtfully, contribute to better engineering outcomes.
Mar 2021How to Build a Web App with and without Rails Libraries - ShopifyThis post details the fundamental concepts of building a web application from scratch using core Ruby libraries, covering network protocols (TCP and HTTP), persistent data stores, and the web server interface (Rack). It then demonstrates how these concepts are abstracted and implemented by Rails libraries like Action Controller, Action Dispatch, Active Record, and Action View, providing a comparative analysis of building with and without Rails.
Mar 20214 Tips for Shipping Data Products Fast - ShopifyThis post introduces four key strategies for accelerating the delivery of data products: 1. Utilizing design sprints to focus team efforts and establish clear timelines. 2. Emphasizing rapid prototyping, particularly with spreadsheets, to enable quick learning cycles and avoid sunk costs. 3. Recommending the avoidance of complex machine learning in initial iterations, favoring simpler models to validate product effectiveness first. 4. Stressing the importance of continuous user feedback through specific questions and diverse user groups to ensure the right product is built.
Dec 2020The State of Ruby Static Typing at Shopify - ShopifyThis post details Shopify's adoption and experience with Sorbet for static typing in Ruby. It covers challenges encountered, such as typing modules with `ActiveSupport::Concern` and modules with implicit inclusion requirements. It explains how Sorbet handles array types and complex nested structures. A comparison is drawn between Sorbet for Ruby and TypeScript for JavaScript, highlighting differences in dynamism, maturity, and runtime checking. The post also discusses the relationship between Sorbet, RBS, and Tapioca, and provides guidance on starting with Sorbet in a Rails project, including which files to check in and how to gradually adopt typing.
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Nov 2020Static Typing for Ruby - ShopifyThis post details the adoption of Sorbet for static typing in Ruby at Shopify. It outlines the three key requirements for a typing solution (gradual typing, speed, full Ruby support) and explains why Sorbet was chosen. The post describes the process of treating static typing as a product, including testing viability, creating RBI files, and tracking adoption using SorbetMetrics. It also covers the evolution of developer support and the use of surveys and interviews to measure developer happiness. The current state of Sorbet adoption in the monolith is presented.
Jun 2020Writing Better, Type-safe Code with Sorbet - ShopifyThis post details the adoption of Sorbet for static type checking in Ruby, focusing on its benefits for type-safe method calls, complex data types, and polymorphism. It explains how Sorbet helps catch errors that unit tests might miss by enforcing method signatures, defining typed structs for data, and using interfaces for dependency injection. The post also highlights Sorbet's support for gradual refactoring, allowing for file-by-file adoption and different strictness levels.
Oct 2019Make Great Decisions Quickly with TOMASP - ShopifyIntroduces TOMASP (Timebox, Options, Meta-decision, Analyze, Step back, Prepare to be wrong) as a framework for making better, faster, and more consistent decisions, particularly for high-impact technical choices. It emphasizes counteracting cognitive biases and uncertainty by structuring the decision-making process.
Nov 2010Shopify's path to Rails 3 - ShopifyThis post details the technical challenges and strategies employed by Shopify in upgrading their large, established Rails application to Rails 3. Key contributions include: the proactive use of Bundler for dependency management prior to the upgrade, a detailed process for migrating views and helpers to address XSS vulnerabilities ('safe by default'), the refactoring of a large number of routes using the new routing API, the process of updating internal and external libraries for Rails 3 compatibility, a solution for the 'helper :all' issue using `clear_helpers`, and the thorough testing of external service integrations. It also highlights the benefits of the upgrade, such as performance improvements and a cleaner API, and looks ahead to future Rails 3.x features.