Rails Maturity Models

Popular Ruby on Rails consulting shop based in Jacksonville Beach, FL.

Most Endorsed Practices for this firm

• Pair Programming

  Hashrocket exclusively works in pairs, with the occasional exception of our UI Specialist. As a result, all of our projects are contracted with either two or four developers.

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  • 

    They always do pair programming.

    David Cohn
  • 

    I stopped by the office to meet all the Hashrocket folks, and ended up pairing for half a day.

    Shay Arnett
  • 

    We pair all the time. Pairing has been the most critical component to my success as a developer at Hashrocket. I can't say enough words about the positive benefits of this practice.

    Veezus Kreist at Hashrocket
  • 

    Pair Programming is almost certainly the best way to develop and debug code, and it makes me curious as to the affects it would have on other disciplines. My ability to pickup and navigate code-bases and various IDEs has grown tremendously.

    Andrew Maier at Hashrocket
  • 

    All the f***ing time... seriously.

    Brian Mc Manus
  • 

    During the days I've spent at Hashrocket, I was very impressed by the dedication to pair programming. Unlike other offices I've seen, where the primary setup was intended for solo work, with some pairing stations, the Hashrocket office's primary setup is intended for pairing, with only a place, or two, that would support solitary working. During the days I've spent there, I've observed them pretty much 100% of the time pair-programming.

    Corey Haines
  • 

    Paired there a day, as all others did.

    Steffen Hiller

  • Also endorsed by

    • Sal Cardello at Hashrocket
    • Jason Calleiro
    • Ben Mc Donald at Hashrocket
    • Jacqui Maher at Hashrocket
    • Libin Pan
    • Mark Jones
  13

• Distributed Version Control

  Hashrocket exclusively uses Git and Github as their distributed version control system and centralized repository since May 2008.

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  • 

    We use git exclusively. And github.com, for that matter.

    Veezus Kreist at Hashrocket
  • 

    Before fully switching over to Git/Github we were using Subversion and Beanstalk hosting.

    Obie Fernandez at Hashrocket
  • 

    While spending time there, not only did I see them using git, but I learned a few tips from them. They have contributed back to the community ideas on effectively using git in a simple development workflow.

    Corey Haines
  • 

    Paired there a day, git from the morning until the evening.

    Steffen Hiller

  • Also endorsed by

    • David Cohn
    • Jason Calleiro
    • Shay Arnett
    • Jacqui Maher at Hashrocket
    • Andrew Maier at Hashrocket
    • Brian Mc Manus
    • Mark Jones
  11

• HAML for Templates

  We exclusively use HAML on all of our projects, to the extent we've turned down clients that didn't want us to use it. HAML makes you much more productive and happier when working on templates, results in cleaner HTML output to the browser and is easier to maintain.

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  • 

    This is where I was first introduced to and fell in love with HAML.

    Brian Mc Manus

  • Also endorsed by

    • David Cohn
    • Jason Calleiro
    • Veezus Kreist at Hashrocket
    • Andrew Maier at Hashrocket
    • Mark Jones
    • Obie Fernandez at Hashrocket
  7

• One Week Iterations

  Hashrocket has always used one-week iterations. It's a bit easier for us to do so than other shops, since we let Pivotal Tracker handle iteration planning for us instead of having a weekly iteration planning meeting (IPM).

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  • Endorsed by

    • Sal Cardello at Hashrocket
    • Jason Calleiro
    • Ben Mc Donald at Hashrocket
    • Jacqui Maher at Hashrocket
    • Andrew Maier at Hashrocket
    • Brian Mc Manus
    • Obie Fernandez at Hashrocket
  7

• Pets Allowed Policy

  Jacqui's exceedingly well-behaved Pomeranian is our office pet most every day of the week. He's like the cutest little living teddie bear you've ever met.

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  • 

    Sebastian rules.

    Ben Mc Donald at Hashrocket
  • 

    that's my dog, too!

    Jacqui Maher at Hashrocket
  • 

    Continuous pomeranian!

    Veezus Kreist at Hashrocket
  • 

    I had the extreme pleasure of meeting Jacqui's Pomeranian, and I can attest to the fact that it is there all the time, even sitting in with pairs to keep them company while coding.

    Corey Haines

  • Also endorsed by

    • David Cohn
    • Shay Arnett
    • Andrew Maier at Hashrocket
  7

• Collective Code Ownership

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  • 

    We trust each other to make the right decisions; if it's the right change to make, we make it.

    Veezus Kreist at Hashrocket

  • Also endorsed by

    • Jason Calleiro
    • Andrew Maier at Hashrocket
    • Brian Mc Manus
    • Mark Jones
    • Obie Fernandez at Hashrocket
  6

• Ping Pong

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  • 

    They do have ping-pong, but I am much better than all of them at it.

    David Cohn
  • 

    ROFL... yah, they do that.

    Brian Mc Manus
  • 

    I played ping-pong at Hashrocket against a couple people and was soundly defeated every time! They take their ping-pong seriously.

    Corey Haines

  • Also endorsed by

    • Sal Cardello at Hashrocket
    • Jason Calleiro
    • Ben Mc Donald at Hashrocket
  6

• Everyone Together

  Hashrocket is actually not absolutely perfect on this practice, since occasionally we travel to client sites for weeks at a time and one of our developers (by choice) is on a six-month contract in Atlanta.

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  • 

    It seems that every morning they start off with a quick chat. I also noticed that Hashrocket is a bit of a community/family. They all hang out whenever they can.

    David Cohn
  • 

    We have gone to great financial lengths to make this happen.

    Ben Mc Donald at Hashrocket

  • Also endorsed by

    • Jason Calleiro
    • Andrew Maier at Hashrocket
    • Brian Mc Manus
    • Obie Fernandez at Hashrocket
  6

• Homogeneous Workstation Environments

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  • 

    I want a 30" Cinema display...

    Brian Mc Manus
  • 

    Hashrocket's environment consists of a 30" monitor with a laptop hooked to it, two keyboards and two mouses...er...mice...mouses. Everyone works this way, and, my experience has been that it is a great workstation environment.

    Corey Haines

  • Also endorsed by

    • David Cohn
    • Jason Calleiro
    • Andrew Maier at Hashrocket
    • Obie Fernandez at Hashrocket
  6

• Cucumber

  Hashrocket has been using Cucumber heavily since Fall of 2008. We use it both to drive TDD as developers and in the development of automated acceptance suites for our client projects. There is some debate internally about the applicability of Cucumber to all projects and whether it is actually a "best" practice, since the added load of comprehensive automated acceptance testing might not meet the ROI criteria of every single Hashrocket client.

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  • Endorsed by

    • Jason Calleiro
    • Veezus Kreist at Hashrocket
    • Andrew Maier at Hashrocket
    • Brian Mc Manus
    • Mark Jones
    • Obie Fernandez at Hashrocket
  6

• In-Office Physical Exercise

  We often spend a couple minutes doing wrist, shoulder and back stretches after morning standup. Some people spontaneously break out into bouts of pushups and jumping jacks too.

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  • 

    Pushups and stretching after scrum

    Brian Mc Manus

  • Also endorsed by

    • David Cohn
    • Jason Calleiro
    • Andrew Maier at Hashrocket
    • Obie Fernandez at Hashrocket
  5

• Pairing Workstations

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  • 

    The Hashrocket office is equipped with 30" screens at all stations, as well as readily available extra keyboards and mouses.

    Corey Haines
  • 

    Paired there a day. Big screen, two keyboards, two mice, one beach view. Unfortunately incompatible with a german keyboard and an english keyboard at the same time. ;-)

    Steffen Hiller

  • Also endorsed by

    • David Cohn
    • Jason Calleiro
    • Mark Jones
  5

• Perpetual Learning Environment

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  • 

    I got to sit in on one of their learning sessions the week I was on site working on my project (I am a client). They had another RoR developer come in and talk about what he does and knows.

    David Cohn
  • 

    We have weekly book club and Hashrocket Way discussions.

    Veezus Kreist at Hashrocket
  • 

    Hashrocket is constantly striving to learn more about the tools of their trade.

    Andrew Maier at Hashrocket

  • Also endorsed by

    • Jason Calleiro
    • Obie Fernandez at Hashrocket
  5

• Unobtrusive Javascript Technique

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  • 

    They were using jQuery unobtrusively in the brief time I was @hashrocket.

    Brian Mc Manus

  • Also endorsed by

    • Jason Calleiro
    • Wilson Bilkovich at Hashrocket
    • Andrew Maier at Hashrocket
    • Mark Jones
  5

• Corporate Transparency

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  • Endorsed by

    • David Cohn
    • Jason Calleiro
    • Andrew Maier at Hashrocket
    • Obie Fernandez at Hashrocket
  4

• Sponsored Open Source Contributions

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  • 

    My project is open source and Hashrocket was actually very excited to work on it because of that.

    David Cohn

  • Also endorsed by

    • Jason Calleiro
    • Ben Mc Donald at Hashrocket
    • Veezus Kreist at Hashrocket
  4

• Weekly Teambuilding

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  • 

    The team dynamic at Hashrocket is unrivaled. No job I've worked at comes close.

    Andrew Maier at Hashrocket
  • 

    While I was at hashrocket, I was lucky enough to participate in both the Humpday Hot Hackers Happy Hour event, as well as their weekly improv class. Both were fun, both visibly brought the team closer together.

    Corey Haines

  • Also endorsed by

    • Obie Fernandez at Hashrocket
  3

• Pivotal-style Standup

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  • Endorsed by

    • Stephen Caudill at Hashrocket
  1

• Regular Safety Bubble Meeting

  We call our monthly status meeting "Mission Control" (get it? hehe) An item on the agenda since the inception of the practice has been to close the meeting with an open-ended agenda item where anyone can bring up items of interest or concern. There is usually a healthy amount of debate and lively discussion at these meetings, and if a problem has been bubbling under the surface, talking about it in a group setting usually helps a lot.

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  • Endorsed by

    • Obie Fernandez at Hashrocket
  1

• The Story is the Iteration

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  • Endorsed by

    • Obie Fernandez at Hashrocket
  1