DEV Community: NoFoster

App Dev Project Mindset Shift

NoFoster — Thu, 28 May 2026 22:05:04 +0000

Continuation of building App Dev project.

Quick Note: After additional consideration, I decided to pivot the main objective of the application. It's objective was to track habits, give a pomodoro timer, and keep updated with the progress of friends. For now, I am removing that social functionality. I would rather have an application that's well-geared for individual use than some bloated social media app that has features solely for the sake of wide adoption. So my objective will be to build out a clean, nice individual user experience. Plan it to spin up the web version and then convert it over to a native app.

TIL 5/27/26

NoFoster — Thu, 28 May 2026 01:47:23 +0000

Tomato Crusher (working title) Test-Build-Resolution Tracker

I'm taking the approach of build, test, fail, iterate. This will be a short-hand recap of tests, what went wrong, and what the fix was. Stream of Consciousness style

Show page first test -> NoMethodError -> had to add .to_a to code because the .at(0) pulls an array, so the data had to be converted 2. Attempt to add destroy function to HabitController -> No Route matches get -> updated link URL to match route URL 3. Destroy record attempt -> NoMethodError -> array fix as used in attempt 1 on this post 4. Pomodoro Session Page first try -> ActionView::Missing Template -> Needed to update view folder to be pomodoro_session_templates 5. Testing the Start Timer Button -> timer did not count down -> pomodoro.js was nested in an erroneously created folder

TIL 5/27/2026

NoFoster — Wed, 27 May 2026 22:08:33 +0000

Spin up from FirstDraft Co-pilot.

It's been a while since I've done this, so I'll outline the process.

Include devise gem on gemfile
bundle install devise gem
run rails generate file from co-pilot with users line
check generated migration file
run rails db:migrate
Change config.sign_out_via = :get on the config/initializers/devise.rb file
Spin up app, check that /users/sign_up and /users/sign_in screens work
First go through was successful
I began working off of Claude Code window to help run the rest of the files
Files ran, and routes began to be built out, but I learned that tokens ran out quickly because Claude was re-reading the whole file and making changes which is very expensive.
Next step was to get claude to recommend a path forward (build out habit route), then leverage first draft study buddy to help me build out that code.
New plan of attack - write out as much code using study buddy, build out the basic RCAV functionality by hand
Leverage Claude Claude once credits are available to work out bugs.

TIL 5/27/2026

NoFoster — Wed, 27 May 2026 17:43:28 +0000

Building the ERD:

Leveraged FirstDraft template to get a base level idea of the number of columns and tables I had
Sent my app description through Claude to get recommendations of if I was missing any columns
Claude recommended adding category, tag, streak functionality.
My idea of tables was 7 (user, user profile, friendship, habit, pomodoro session, habit comments) - claude streamlined some tables and added 5 more (habit tabs, habit logs, categories
Claude was helpful with mapping 1:N relationships

TIL: 5/26/26

NoFoster — Wed, 27 May 2026 00:58:24 +0000

Main focus of today: App Dev 2 Final Project Base Outline

Base Objective: Create a habit-tracking app that allows users to list habits, track completion, monitor the progress of "friends", and includes a pomodoro-style timer plug-in. Habit progress is tracked based on streaks (days habit is continued) and tomatoes smashed (pomodoro sessions completed)

Main screens:

Homepage/Feed (dynamic) - see current habit status of friends/public users
User Profile (form) - basic user information and status controls
Habit Creation Page (form) - Base screen where new habits are tracked
Habit Edit page (form) - Modify information about a habit
Pomodoro timer - Enables users to set number of pomodoro sessions, has countdown timer that creates 25 minute work chunks and 5 minute break chunks, after 3 work chunks, user is prompted for a 15 minute break
Personal Habit Dash - High level dashboard of where user's current habits stand.

Must Haves (basic functionality)-

user profiles
login ability
Pomodoro tracker
CRUD Functionality for Habits

Nice to Haves (improved UX) -

User feed
Pomodoros count up and tie automatically into habits
Add/Track a friend ability
Clean, consistent CSS pages

Good to Have (reach items if you have time or in later iterations)-

Native iOS application
Push Notifications
Bank of motivational quotes to promote building habits
Ability to like/comment on friend's progress
AI prompts that give user tips on how to tackle specific habits

Things to consider while developing

DRY code
Error monitoring
Performance monitoring
ABC
Claude/Codex for ideas/learnings
Track how long items take to make (tomatoes smashed)

TIL: 5/26/26

NoFoster — Wed, 27 May 2026 00:58:24 +0000

Main focus of today: App Dev 2 Final Project Base Outline

Main screens:

Homepage/Feed (dynamic) - see current habit status of friends/public users
User Profile (form) - basic user information and status controls
Habit Creation Page (form) - Base screen where new habits are tracked
Habit Edit page (form) - Modify information about a habit
Pomodoro timer - Enables users to set number of pomodoro sessions, has countdown timer that creates 25 minute work chunks and 5 minute break chunks, after 3 work chunks, user is prompted for a 15 minute break
Personal Habit Dash - High level dashboard of where user's current habits stand.

Must Haves (basic functionality)-

user profiles
login ability
Pomodoro tracker
CRUD Functionality for Habits

Nice to Haves (improved UX) -

User feed
Pomodoros count up and tie automatically into habits
Add/Track a friend ability
Clean, consistent CSS pages

Good to Have (reach items if you have time or in later iterations)-

Native iOS application
Push Notifications
Bank of motivational quotes to promote building habits
Ability to like/comment on friend's progress
AI prompts that give user tips on how to tackle specific habits

Things to consider while developing

DRY code
Error monitoring
Performance monitoring
ABC
Claude/Codex for ideas/learnings
Track how long items take to make (tomatoes smashed)

TIL 5/22/2026

NoFoster — Tue, 26 May 2026 23:35:29 +0000

Rails X XCode Tips

When reading commands from a textbook, the \ in the command instruction line is usually just a line continuation in instructions. I do not need that if you type it all on one line.
Use bin/rails destroy model sample_model_name to remove an erroneous model
I have a tendency to type "customer" when I should be typing "custom". Watch out for this mistake.

TIL 5/21/2026

NoFoster — Fri, 22 May 2026 03:59:27 +0000

Building iOS Bridge Components with Swift Tips

Double check your JS for typos
Event name typos will also be present in suggested events, so if you have to fix a mistake early in the code, check for other errors.
Ensure you have a disconnect() in your rails bridge code, but make sure it's not nested in your connect()
Be careful about accidentally typing / instead of the enter key

TIL 5/20/2026

NoFoster — Thu, 21 May 2026 02:49:18 +0000

Using XCode Tips:

Clicking the triangle icon on the left hand-bar spins up the iPhone simulation
If your codespace stops, restart it with bin/dev then type

gh codespace ports forward 3000:3000

into the terminal to reconnect XCode. There is no reason to go through the authentication flow again.
Build frequently and look for errors so you don't end up with a black screen and host of problems that have to be fixed.

TIL 5/18/2026

NoFoster — Wed, 20 May 2026 18:07:26 +0000

Beginning to create Native Apps!
Troubleshooting Tips

If you have a connection error, remember to restart the server and go through the terminal connection flow. Occasionally the system times out due to inactivity (more than 15 minutes)
500 after editing ERB often means Rails could not render the template -> One common cause is an unmatched <% end %>

TIL 5/16/26

NoFoster — Mon, 18 May 2026 02:27:29 +0000

Today we are learning how to write Javascript

Stimulus tips

The template holds fields that are not yet rendered. This is the go to blueprint:

<template data-dynamic-fields-target="template">
  <!-- Blueprint for new fields -->
</template>

Traditional Action format:

event->controller#method

TIL 5/15/2026

NoFoster — Sat, 16 May 2026 02:56:10 +0000

When bundle adding a new gem. you shouldn't have spaces between the '''>''' and version name. Ex. bundle add factory_bot_rails --version "~>6.5.1" --group="development, test"
Every do has a corresponding end in a code block.