Sometimes, when someone is making a recommendation on why they think something is a best practice, they’ll reference a blog post. What’s great about a blog post is that there’s people (like me) that will explain simply why something is a good implementation and why you should do it too.
But here’s the thing, if you look into my blog archive, you’ll discover that you should store Twitter configuration in a global variable. (I broke a production app by implementing that. Worst part: its recommended on the twitter ruby client readme…) I have other _bad_ recommendations as well that I’m sure even a junior dev can find. Don’t trust me.
Oh, but wait, I’m a good dev. I’m a core contributor to Spree! I have to have at least some idea how to program. I mean, I do help out on the biggest ecommerce framework for ruby on rails.
So, why are blog posts bad references? They aren’t peer reviewed and they don’t contain other peoples opinions. You might get another persons opinion, but that’s only if you check the comments; if they have comments turned on and guess what: I don’t.
What are some reliable resources? Popular Stackoverflow questions with tons of activity.
Actually, nvm. I’ve changed my mind. This is now a blog post that is here to be-all-end-all to the discussion of what is a valid reference. Blog posts (especially the ones where comments are turned off) are now the go to reference.