EdgeCase UK
EdgeCase UK announced today it will run a "Test Driven Development with Rails Studio" - http://pragmaticstudio.com/
This Pragmatic Studio, the first to be held in Europe, will be taught by Jim Weirich and Joe O'Brien.
Rails developers often struggle with how to go about testing their Ruby on Rails applications. They may have heard about test-driven development (TDD), and may have even tried TTD themselves hoping to get immediate results.
After all, the pitch is that by practicing TDD you'll end up writing better code. The reality is that testing can be like exercise: It's something we all know we should do, but getting started and making it stick can be challenging.
Many developers become overwhelmed by the choice of testing tools and give up straight away. Others press on but wrestle with how to continue doing TDD for all but the simplest problems or when software deadlines loom. As a result, software quality suffers.
New features take longer to deliver. Debugging time escalates. And schedules slip due to excessive rework.
The Test-Driven Development Studio is a three day, hands-on training course designed to help Rails developers change the way they develop (and test) software. In this course, they'll learn test-driven development by actually doing it through a series of exercises guided by two experienced mentors: Jim Weirich and Joe O’Brien.
Attendees will be introduced to some new tools, but the tools only get you so far. The long-term value is in learning the fundamental practices and techniques of TDD. With this foundation, attendees will be able to choose the tools that work best for them. They'll come away from this course equipped with the skills to apply test-driven development to their current project, and use it throughout their career.
Joe O’Brien of EdgeCase comments: "We have been wanting to offer more advanced training in the UK for some time now and our partnership with Pragmatic Studios allows us to do just that. This studio demonstrates one of Ruby’s greatest strengths - the ability to test everything. It also demonstrates a key part of the Ruby culture.
"Jim and I have spent time building a hands-on course that helps developers understand the concepts and apply them immediately. It has worked really well with developers in the US and we feel it’s a perfect fit for Europe"
Mike and Nicole Clark, owners of The Pragmatic Studio, comment: "We're very pleased to have EdgeCase offering this course in the UK. These guys are passionate about TDD, they're active contributors in the Ruby and Rails communities, and they have solid experience applying it on a variety of projects. Equally important, they have a hands-on, engaging teaching style that really resonates with students."
In the words of one attendee: "The instructors were cheerful, passionate, and honest. I appreciate their effort to keep the class fun and interesting. They admitted to shortcomings and didn't try to push dogma. The atmosphere of the class was very conducive to asking questions."
The Pragmatic Studio started in 2005, and since then has delivered over 50 public training courses attended by over 2,000 developers. Their courses are unique because they are taught by developers with both a deep knowledge of the subject and the ability to clearly and systematically teach. The course material is based on their real-world experience on software projects. In addition, the majority of their instructors have written a book or two for The Pragmatic Programmers.
A key part of The Pragmatic Studio's influence is that they work in cooperation with The Pragmatic Programmers. They are highly regarded worldwide for publishing timely, practical books for programmers. The Pragmatic brand is synonymous with relevant, well-delivered, and quality material specifically for programmers. The Pragmatic Programmers have over 80 books in print, as well as screencasts and a monthly magazine.
http://edgecase.com/
http://pragmaticstudio.com/
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
