02 Better documentation through better error messages

Topics in this session include:

• People don’t delete tests often enough
• Error numerology
• byebug vs. pry for debugging; pry-byebug integration
• Using telnet to find out if a port is accepting connections
• print debugging vs. a “real” debugger
• Explaining “watches” in debuggers
• Why Avdi uses IDEs for debugging
• Tracking the missing port to mailcatcher
• Two-screen pair programming setup
• git patch
• The pleasures of GNU Nano
• Mailcatcher API
• RSpec helpers for testing email sending
• Fake services vs. stubbed-out APIs: Testing that a real thing happened vs. testing that it would have happened
• Improving error messages as a way to improve documentation
• Starting from the API we would want
• Using a sand-timer emoji instead of a period to indicate waiting