Taylor Otwell, Creator of Laravel

In this conversation, Ben interviews Taylor Otwell, the creator of Laravel. 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