Your Rails domain modeling expert
Hello!
I’m Kasper, and I’ve been using Rails since 2011.
I was on the Rails core team helping steer and maintain Rails itself from 2016-2022. I’ve got ~1750 commits to Rails, and have reviewed & merged thousands of contributor PRs.
I know exactly how to tweak Rails & Active Record to achieve simple solutions to complex modeling problems — a rare skill these days.
It’s those same skills I applied and honed while working as a Rails product engineer on an email client called HEY at Basecamp/37signals.
There, I went above and beyond my role to help institute a bigger focus on helpful code reviews and stewardship, invented Kredis, and trialed numerous other Rails abstractions that I didn’t deem good enough to ship.
Today,
I help clients navigate tough modeling problems in their Rails apps. With my knack for spotting the clearer solution, I can often achieve designs that replace complex custom SQL queries for simple Active Record with great names to boot.My process saves clients churn & maintenance costs. The solutions are easier to reason about and a joy to work with.
Reach out and let’s talk,
Kasper
Rails Core
I was on the Rails core team 2016-2022 and the top 11th contributor when I left. I shipped several major features, and reviewed & merged thousands of contributor PRs.
Rails source Deep-Dives
I’m hosting sessions that dive into Rails’ source code to demystify what’s actually going on in there.
This helps teams when upgrading Rails to a new version. It helps team members with upskilling their code reading skills.
The best part is, it has a tangible effect on their day-to-day code.
Gems
I'm working on a bunch of gems that take Rails further.
What clients have said
I reached out to Kasper because I had some complex modeling around product catalogs with cascading prices that was a headache to work on and extend.
We had a setup call to talk things over and I sent him a write up on what the system should do.
In a week, Kasper redid our complex domain modeling with a new concrete plan in actual working Rails code. He’d whittled the system down to ~290 lines that’s way easier to reason about. We can entirely replace some complex and brittle SQL queries for what’s just standard Active Record now. The best part is, it nails more of our requirements than the old system, while being easier to extend!
I’d estimate it could save us at least $60,000 in maintenance and build time within the next year. Highly recommend making the investment.
Working with Kasper was everything I hoped for, and more! His deep knowledge of Rails and keen eye for domain modeling allowed him to quickly get up to speed with our project, leaving more time for problem-solving. He helped us overcome two major technical challenges we had been putting off for some time. I’m grateful we had the opportunity to work with Kasper and look forward to collaborating with him again.
- Jason Charnes, job boardly.
I’ve had the privilege of learning from Kasper over the past few months. Thanks to the tools and techniques he shared, I’ve become much faster at debugging and fixing issues by identifying root causes more efficiently. Additionally, I’m now able to help my teammates get unblocked by applying the problem-solving strategies I gained from my time with him. Kasper’s guidance has had a lasting impact on my ability to contribute effectively to my team.
- Francois Buys, Lead Software Engineer at OmbuLabs
Had an amazing 1:1 session with @kaspth.com yesterday where he helped me riff on a new feature I am about to start building for mycpaconnect.com.
Feeling way more confident now.
The Rails community is fortunate to have experts like him available to help the rest of us as we build.
- @zackgilbert.com