It’s extremely rare that the first implementation that I write to solve a problem is the best one I’m able to come up with.

I’ve been recently trying to think of my work as operating at different “zoom levels”. We often fall into these modes automatically, but it’s something you can consciously do if you identify the need.

This post will go over a practical implementation of writing a bot for Messenger, using Elixir.

If you’ve ever worked with Ruby, Python, Node.js, or a variety of other programming languages and environments, one thing you may have learned is that managing different versions can be a royal pain.

It’s almost impossible to use Slack without encountering a bot, especially as slackbot sends you a message whenever you first join an organisation (that’s the one that asks you for your profile information). Ever since I first joined a Slack organisation I’ve loved how they use slackbot to gather that information as it’s a great on boarding experience.

TL;DR I built hellostranger.xyz, a Phoenix app for chatting anonymously with a random stranger.

If you’re interested in why this example is here, this is the post it originated from: Versioning your HTTP API

If you’re interested in why this example is here, this is the post it originated from: Versioning your HTTP API

So you’ve made an API, congratulations! Whether you used Rails, NodeJS, or Phoenix, you’ve got something out there and people are making HTTP requests. Now comes the interesting part: making changes to something people are using.

As I write this, I’m sitting in Gregory’s Coffee shop on 30th and 7th in New York City, trying to make the most of their WiFi so that I can get some entertainment for the flight home. As I sit here I’m wondering what is going to happen in 2016, as some things are changing.