Scott Ford: helping businesses breathe new life into old code /Ep2250

Scott Ford Scott Ford: I love fixing and maintaining existing applications. So much so, that I've built a team of like-minded people to focus exclusively on legacy code projects. Through my business, Corgibytes, I help businesses breathe new life into old code. I call this software remodeling. Just like how you wouldn't bulldoze your house if you wanted to update your kitchen, it's often more cost-effective to improve the app you already have instead of starting over. I specialize in test-driven development and love working in many languages, platforms and frameworks. RUBY DEVELOPMENT I've worked on ruby projects using Locomotive, Spree, Mongoid, Devise, Radiant, Nokogiri, and obviously Rails, Sinatra, cucumber and rspec. I was a testing fanatic before ruby, so the testing tools are what brought me here. CODE MECHANIC Since I can remember, I've been allured by the mysteries of machines. I was a constant tinkerer. So much so that my mother instilled the "you're not allowed to take it apart unless it's already broken" rule because I dismantled one too many appliances just to analyze the innards. So, it's almost natural that I love fixing bugs in software. I love participating in the open source community because I get giddy whenever I come across a bug and fix it. Even though ruby is my favorite, there's no limit to the languages I'll employ to fix bugs. Over the past fifteen years, I've fixed bugs using Bash, Basic (wow - that takes me back!), Batch, C, C++, C#, Delphi, Fortran, Java, JavaScript, Lisp, Objective-C, Pascal, PHP, Prolog, Ruby, Scheme, VB.NET, Visual Basic, and many more. SOFTWARE CRAFTER Software as craft? It's how I see the world. But instead of plaster or wood, my medium is bits and bytes. I constantly seek ways to refine coding techniques, find creative fixes, and deliver elegant solutions to all sorts of business problems