Taylor Otwell, Creator of Laravel

In this conversation, Ben interviews Taylor Otwell, the creator of Laravel. They discuss everything from the age-old argument of tabs vs. spaces to the origins of Laravel and how Taylor has turned it into a thriving, sustainable business.

Links:
Laravel, the framework Taylor created
Tuple, used by the Laravel team to collaborates

Takeaways
  • Coding preferences and philosophies can vary among developers and programming ecosystems.
  • Maintaining backwards compatibility is important for frameworks with a large user base.
  • Clean code can be subjective and depends on the specific needs and goals of a project.
  • Testing is crucial for shipping software with confidence. When starting a new project, consider writing documentation first to iron out any potential issues and ensure a user-centric perspective.
  • Focus on high-level testing, such as feature-level or controller-level tests, to gain confidence in the functionality of your code.
  • Challenge assumptions and ask questions to improve the quality of your code and avoid unnecessary complexity.
  • Believe in the potential of your project and raise your ambitions to achieve greater success.
  • Building a business around open source can be a sustainable model if you create commercial products that complement and support the open source project.
Chapters
  • (00:00) - Tabs or Spaces?
  • (08:00) - Shells
  • (10:46) - Minimalism in Coding
  • (17:24) - Stripe and Their API
  • (22:41) - Aesthetics
  • (25:09) - A Coding Hill You Would Die On
  • (28:09) - Clean Code
  • (33:38) - Testing
  • (40:30) - Personal Involvement With Code
  • (45:00) - Notes and Manifestos
  • (49:09) - Skill Over Time
  • (51:49) - Ian Landsman and Laravel
  • (55:49) - Businesses Based on Open Source

Creators and Guests

Taylor Otwell
Guest
Taylor Otwell
Founded and creating @laravelphp for the happiness of all sentient beings, especially developers. Space pilgrim.
Taylor Otwell, Creator of Laravel
Broadcast by