Talk: Don't Commit Your Secrets

On Tuesday this week, I presented a talk to Montreal.rb on keeping your application secrets safe. Posted below is the video, slides and some follow-up questions during and after the presentation. Enjoy!

Video

Slides

Questions

How can I remove a secret from your Git repository?
GitHub has an excellent post on how to do this: Remove sensitive data. However, if you have committed a secret to your repository which has been push to a remote, then consider that secret compromised. You will need to reset the secret (i.e. create a new API key) and configure your application using the techniques described above.

How can I keep my secrets safe with an application pre-Rails 4.1?
Check out these options:

• foreman: recommended - any Rack app
• dotenv: great for plain old Ruby Gems too
• figaro: YAML
• capistrano: linking to a configuration file in production

Modeling on the Right Side of the Brain

Update: A transcript exists on Confreak's GitHub translations repository.

Update: The presentation is now online. Unfortunately the color has been washed out when the slides were filmed, so I highly recommend you follow along with the slide deck below. Enjoy!

If you attended my talk at RailsConf, Modeling on the Right Side of the Brain, thank you so much for your support and I hope you found the talk helpful. Embedded below are the slides for my talk and resources listed below that you will find helpful in learning more about Object Modeling.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, here is the abstract from my talk that I gave at RailsConf 2014 in Chicago.

"Since your first web application, you have struggled with identifying domain objects. Assigning business rules and services appears to be a talent that only other developers are born with. Fear not! Object Modeling is a learnable, teachable skill. This talk demonstrates the five essential skills you need for modeling objects and their responsibilities. Think beyond ActiveRecord and your database, and learn how color and patterns will help you explain, maintain and extend your application."

While the book I referenced in the talk Java Modeling in Color with UML is no longer in print, it can be sourced from Amazon if you wish to purchase a used copy. However, there is an excellent on-line resource I highly recommend authored by Stephen R. Palmer titled Peter Coad's 'Modeling in Color' which will provide all you need to get started immediately.

Books

Listed below are the three key books that got me excited (and continue to do so) about Object Modeling:

Java Modeling in Color with UML

Object Models: Strategies, Patterns, and Applications

Streamlined Object Modeling: Patterns, Rules, and Implementation

Online Resources

Peter Coad's 'Modeling in Color' authored by Stephen R. Palmer. As mentioned above, this is a great online resource to get you started today.

Streamlined Object Modeling is the book site hosted by one of the authors Mike Abney. While this is not a stand alone resource, as it does require the book to introduced some of the concepts discussed, it does provide you some insight on this specific approach buidling on Peter Coad's techniques.

If there is anything else you need, please feel free to contact me directly or leave a comment below.