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Product Insights

How to Choose an AI Automation Consulting Partner

Top-firm lists can't tell you who to trust. A buyer's framework for choosing an AI automation consulting partner: bottleneck prioritization, production proof, and capability your team keeps.

Engineering Insights

Everyone Has a License. That's Not AI Adoption.

Buying AI licenses isn't adoption. The five tiers of agentic fluency, three questions to ask your engineering team, and where AI rollouts actually stall.

News

Into the Gnar, Episode 3: The Stack We'd Use to Start a B2B SaaS Today

If you were starting a B2B SaaS today with 18 months of runway, what would you build on? Mike and Nick share the 2026 stack: TypeScript over Rails, boring technology, AI-ready architecture, and why you should optimize for the LLM, not the developer. Full transcript.

News

Into the Gnar, Episode 2: The Vibe Coding Reckoning

Vibe coded apps are the spreadsheets of 2026. Ep 2 covers vibe coding vs. agentic development, comprehension debt, and the doom loop. Full transcript.

News

Into the Gnar, Episode 1: A Software Podcast for Operators, Not Developers

Mike Stone and Nick Maloney launch Into the Gnar, a software podcast for CEOs and operators, not developers. Why they started the Gnar, Claude Code overtaking Copilot, MCP's 97M installs, and the full episode transcript.

Product Insights

Turning the Spreadsheet Nobody Trusts Into Real Software

We turned the spreadsheet nobody trusts into real software with Claude, no human-written code. Plus where vibe coding is safe and where it will burn you.

Engineering Insights

What Actually Goes in a Claude Project

A Claude Project is the folder you'd hand a new hire on day one. The four things that go in it, the file-format rules nobody tells you, and where to start.

Engineering Insights

The One-Sentence Fix for Bad AI Output

Bad AI output is a diagnostic, not a verdict. The RCTFC framework and five one-sentence fixes that turn generic answers into usable work.

News

How We Qualified a 50-Page RFP in 20 Minutes Instead of Half a Day

One AI prompt got us a summary nobody could use. A second prompt on the same 50-page RFP produced a requirements matrix, a fit assessment, and a response outline in about 20 minutes. The difference wasn't the AI.

News

The Gnar Company Launches Free AI Series for B2B Operators, Starting June 30

The Gnar Company's free AI For Operators Event Series kicks off Tuesday, June 30, 2026 at 2:30pm ET. Four live sessions built for non-technical B2B leaders who want to stop reading about AI and start using it, with practical Claude workflows you can put to work the same week.

Engineering Insights

AI Evals Are Not So Different From the Tests You Already Write

Moving from deterministic code to LLMs doesn't mean abandoning your testing rig. It means evolving it. Discover why "evals" are essentially the automated tests of the probabilistic world and how to apply the testing wisdom you already have to ship AI features with total confidence.

Product Insights

Thoughtbot Alternatives: Choosing the Right Software Development Partner in 2026

Thoughtbot alternatives for software development in 2026. The Gnar offers guaranteed milestone pricing, a 12-month bug-free warranty, and a 100% US-based team.

Product Insights

How Much Does Custom Software Development Cost? (The Real Answer)

Most software projects go over budget because they're priced before the problem is understood. Learn how structured discovery gives you a guaranteed build price before development starts.

Product Insights

How to Choose the Best Software Development Agency in Boston

A Boston agency founder's guide to evaluating software development companies. Learn the four agency types, red flags to avoid, and questions to ask in 2026.

Engineering Insights

10 Ways to Get Better Results From Claude Code

A recent Hacker News thread turned into a goldmine of practical advice from developers using Claude Code daily. After reading through hundreds of comments, a clear pattern emerged: the developers getting the best results aren't writing better prompts. They're building better workflows around the tool.

Engineering Insights

Anthropic Dropped OpenClaw Support. Here's How I Replaced It With Claude Code.

Anthropic's TOS change killed OpenClaw overnight, taking businesses built on the ecosystem with it. But for end users, Claude Code's new channels feature offers a viable path forward.

Product Insights

We Turned a Phone Call Into a Working Product in 48 Hours. Here's Exactly How.

Watch what happens when a one-hour phone call becomes a working application in 48 hours. We walk through exactly how Context-Driven Development turns a single conversation into a competitor analysis, feature prioritization, full PRD, and production-grade software with Stripe billing, user accounts, and an admin dashboard, using AI-assisted agentic development with a human architect in the loop.

News

Is Your Team Ready for AI? Here's How to Find Out in 2 Minutes

Most teams aren't getting real value from AI tools, not because the tools don't work, but because their foundations aren't ready. Discover the five factors that predict AI success and take a free 2-minute assessment to find out where your team stands.

Product Insights

AI Integration Agency With Guaranteed Outcomes

Stop the "Vanished Agency" cycle. As a premier AI integration agency, The Gnar Company moves beyond flashy demos by wiring AI into your CRM and ERP to trigger real actions. Get a successful AI implementation with guaranteed outcomes and our signature 12-month bug-free warranty.

Engineering Insights

Top React Native App Development Companies In 2026

Compare the top React Native app development companies of 2026. Discover how to vet senior engineers, avoid technical debt, and why our 12-month bug-free warranty sets the standard for high-performance mobile builds.

Engineering Insights

Context-Driven Development: The AI-First Alternative to Agile

Context-Driven Development (CDD) is a software development methodology designed for AI-assisted coding. Learn how CDD differs from Agile and why detailed requirements are now the source code of the future.

Product Insights

How to Choose the Right Software Development Partner

Avoid project failure and costly delays. Learn how to choose the right software development partner in 2026 with our guide to vetting quality, teams, and warranties.

News

Expert Software Development Consulting Services

Been burned by agencies that over-promised and under-delivered? The Gnar offers guaranteed outcomes, fixed pricing, and a 12-month bug-free warranty. 100% US-based senior engineers.

Engineering Insights

Why Your AI Coding Agent Keeps Making Bad Decisions (And How to Fix It)

AI coding agents making bad decisions? The frustration comes from two fixable problems: assumptions and code quality. Here's how to get consistently good results.

Product Insights

From Dashboards to Decisions: Why Traditional BI Can't Keep Up

Stop waiting days for dashboards. Learn how BI2AI uses LLMs and RAG to eliminate the analyst bottleneck and turn complex data into instant executive decisions.

Product Insights

Are Your Legacy Systems Bleeding You Money?

Technical debt now accounts for 40% of IT balance sheets, with companies paying a 10-20% surcharge on every new initiative just to work around existing problems. Meanwhile, organizations with high technical debt deliver new features 25-50% slower than competitors. Features on your six-month roadmap? They're shipping them in three weeks.

Engineering Insights

What Is Agentic Development? A Guide for Technical Leaders

What is agentic development? A guide for technical leaders on how AI agents write production code, key tools like Cursor, and how to evaluate development partners.

Engineering Insights

Turbo-powered Dynamic Fields

Render parts of your views so your users get the right options at the right times, and do it with as little front-end effort as necessary.

Engineering Insights

React in Rails, One Component at a Time

It seems like we should be able to drop React components into our views on an ad hoc basis using Stimulus, which is exactly what we will do.

Engineering Insights

A Near Miss: How I Froze My Website by Adding a Generated Column

Do avoid freezing your database, don't create a generated column. Add a nullable column, a trigger to update its value, and a job to backfill old data.

Engineering Insights

The Programmer's Obsession: Lessons from Monica Geller's Light Switch

If you're wondering if you'd make a good software engineer, ask yourself how much you're like Monica from Friends.

Engineering Insights

Compliance Gotcha With Hotwire

Prefetching and user privacy are fundamentally at odds. Make sure to use sensible defaults to protect your user's data.

Engineering Insights

Two Tips for Reusable UI with Stimulus

Two issues we ran into implementing a library of reusable components with Stimulus, and how we worked around them.

Engineering Insights

Hotwire Native: Building Bridges

A three part series exploring development with Hotwire Native

Product Insights

Repo Roundup August 4th, 2025

Weekly human curated list of new, interesting and noteworthy projects.

Engineering Insights

Hotwire Native: Zero to Mobile Hero

A three part series exploring development with Hotwire Native

Engineering Insights

Probability and Statistics for Software Engineers

An intro using examples relevant to software engineers and techniques that don't require you to memorize anything

Product Insights

Repo Roundup July 21st

Weekly human curated list of new, interesting and noteworthy projects.

Product Insights

Documenting Requirements in Software Projects 101

A helpful template for documenting project requirements

Product Insights

Repo Roundup July 14th

Weekly human curated list of new, interesting and noteworthy projects.

Engineering Insights

In Defense of Unit Tests

In which we respond to a Redditor who's lost their faith.

Product Insights

3 Scrum Rules We Break and Why

The Gnar's spin on a beloved Agile framework

Product Insights

Repo Roundup July 7th

Repo Roundup: Weekly human curated list of new, noteworthy and interesting projects

Product Insights

Repo Roundup June 30th

Repo Roundup: Weekly human curated list of new, noteworthy and interesting projects

Product Insights

Repo Roundup June 23rd

Repo Roundup: Deep Dive Edition on VGGT

Product Insights

Repo Roundup June 16th

Weekly hand-curated list of new, trending and noteworthy projects

Product Insights

Stop Guessing About AI: How We Built a Solution That Actually Answers Your Strategic Questions

Introducing Gnar's AI solution brainstorming tool to get AI use cases specifically for your business

Product Insights

Repo Roundup June 9th

Weekly hand-curated list of new, trending and noteworthy projects

Product Insights

Repo Roundup June 2nd

My weekly hand-curated list of new, interesting and noteworthy projects. Livestore is the project I'm most interested in given how much we work with state management in complex React applications.

Product Insights

Repo Roundup May 26th

My weekly hand-curated list of new, interesting and noteworthy projects. I’m really excited about the VS Code PG extension and see that as having potential as a daily use tool for our dev team.

Product Insights

Repo Roundup May 19th

This week's curated list of new, interesting & noteworthy projects. I just installed Cap and am evaluating whether it can be a viable replacement for Loom.

Product Insights

The Upstream Consequences of AI-Enhanced Development: When Your Team Gets Faster, But Your Process Doesn't

Think of your company as a factory. Your software development team is the production line: the place where raw materials are transformed into finished products.

Engineering Insights

Repo Roundup May 12th

This week's curated list of new, interesting & noteworthy projects.

Engineering Insights

Repo Roundup May 5th

My weekly roundup on new, trending & interesting projects. OBS Studio is a great tool for prototyping AL/ML video tools and proxying it through a virtual camera. I have a draft blog post diving deeper into its use.

Product Insights

The Evolving Roles of Product Management and Design in an Agentic Development Landscape

How product managers and designers must evolve for agentic AI development. Learn prompt engineering skills, quality governance, and metrics that matter when AI writes code.

Engineering Insights

Repo Roundup April 28th

Weekly round up of new and interesting projects that are on my radar. I’m currently playing around with Deep Live Cam and plan to share a blog post on the results soon.

Engineering Insights

Repo Roundup April 21st

A weekly human curated roundup of interesting repos & projects. Some are brand new, others have recent activity and are new to me.

Product Insights

The One Thing to Look At in a Software Development Estimate

When choosing a development partner, most companies compare hourly rates. But the real question isn’t how much per hour? It’s how much of your budget actually goes to development?

Engineering Insights

Repo Roundup April 14th

A weekly human curated roundup of interesting repos & projects. Some are brand new, others have recent activity and are new to me.

Engineering Insights

Repo Roundup April 4th

A human curated list of repositories and projects that piqued my interest.

Product Insights

You Promised Them What?! Balancing Vision and Feasibility in Product Development

Once you’ve gotten people excited about the next big thing, you better be able to deliver.

Product Insights

Do You Actually Have a Product Owner?

Is your product struggling? It might be because you don’t have a real product owner.

Engineering Insights

How We Became an Innovation SWAT Team for a $2 Billion Organization

It’s easy to think that large organizations have everything it takes to innovate. But often, it’s their success that leads to their stagnation.

Engineering Insights

Survey Says! What Software Development Leaders Really Think

We surveyed 150 SaaS product and engineering leaders to uncover their top priorities and challenges for 2024.

News

Gnar Awarded an IT ITQ Services Master Contract by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

The Gnar Company has been awarded an IT ITQ Services Master Contract # 4400004480 with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Product Insights

The 3 Hidden Traits Behind Elite Software Teams

The best hires aren’t the ones you bring on because they have a specific skill set.

Product Insights

10 Future-Proofing Questions for Product Leaders

Thought exercise to creatively consider problems, as well as your product or business.

Engineering Insights

The Minimum Viable Technical Team

Thought exercise to creatively consider problems, as well as your product or business.

Engineering Insights

The Safest Way to Take Big Swings

Iteration loves to masquerade as innovation.

Engineering Insights

The Most Valuable Meeting You're Not Having

Why retrospectives meetings are important to project success

Engineering Insights

Building for Flexibility

The best hires aren’t the ones you bring on because they have a specific skill set.

Product Insights

All Apps are Broken and Not all Bugs Need to be Fixed

Here is a framework popularized by Apple to prioritize product decisions that Gnar has adopted in discussing with clients.

Engineering Insights

A Day in the Life of a Software Consultancy Founder

Some insight into the day in a life of a software founder

Product Insights

Why Specialized Software Teams Are Your Secret Weapon

Partnering with an external development team like The Gnar is like having a secret weapon on your side.

Product Insights

5 Questions to Ask Before Investing in AI

Considering an AI project? Check out our list of five questions to see if AI is a worthwhile investment for you and your team.

Engineering Insights

Why the U.S. Government Needs a CTO

We think there’s enormous opportunity in our public-sector digital experiences and, with a stronger commitment to innovation, we can create a more efficient, effective, and user-friendly government for everyone.

Engineering Insights

React Server Components Example with Next.js

React Server Components (RSCs) can facilitate new approaches to building React applications. Let's experiment with RSCs using Next.js!

News

Gnar Awarded ITS81 Statewide Contract by Commonwealth of Massachusetts

The Gnar Company is excited to announce that they have been awarded the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ IT Project Services Contract (ITS81).

Engineering Insights

How we took a mobile app from concept to launch in three months

How The Gnar built a client’s mobile app from concept to launch in just three months, with a transparent, flexible approach to software development.

Engineering Insights

Rear Spoilers and CTOs: Why Your Startup Doesn't Need Another Questionable Accessory

Skip the Spoiler, Focus on the Engine: Why Your Startup Needs a Hands-On Tech Leader.

Engineering Insights

Fixed Bid Must Die

Fixed bid let you down again? Learn how Time & Materials (T&M) projects offer better flexibility, accountability, and collaboration.

Engineering Insights

Is Off-Shore Software Development a Competitive Advantage?

Explore how off-shore software development is changing in today's market and the evolving dynamics of cost, speed, and quality in software development to determine the best approach for your business.

Engineering Insights

Creating Passkey Authentication in a Rails 7 Application

Let's build a Rails 7 app with passkeys! Passkeys are a form of passwordless login that replaces passwords with secure, per-device keys.

Engineering Insights

How to Spend $250k on a $150k Dev Role

How to evaluate hiring a full-time developer versus an agency

Engineering Insights

BREAKING: AI costs a sh*tload.

Implementing AI is more expensive than you think

Engineering Insights

Gnarly Learnings from December 2023

AI applications in finance roles, strategies for top converting landing pages, and Static Hermes.

Engineering Insights

Gnarly Learnings from November 2023

AI applications in medical writing, weather predictions, and marketing; additional discussion around design systems, Flutter development, and languages.

Engineering Insights

DevSecOps 101: What is DevSecOps?

Embracing DevSecOps demands moving beyond the old "set it and forget it" mentality. You are probably already adopting DevSecOps at some level; you just may not be doing a satisfactory job yet.

News

The Gnar Company Named Among Top Web Development Agencies for 2024 by Vendry

The Gnar Company is excited to announce that it has been named among the top web development agencies for 2024 by Vendry.

Engineering Insights

The Gnar Company Wins The Manifest Award for Boston’s Most Reviewed B2B Company for 2024

The Gnar Company Wins The Manifest Award for Boston’s Most Reviewed B2B Company for 2024

Engineering Insights

Ruby on Rails vs. React: Hotwire + Turbo Change the Equation

Do you need React JS for your Ruby on Rails project? Maybe not, with new tools like Hotwire, Turbo, and Stimulus shaking things up.

Engineering Insights

Gnarly Learnings from October 2023

Building AI business applications with Elixir, discussions around Storefront UI, and our first look at the Bun JavaScript runtime.

News

Meet the Gnarnians: Nick

In this series, we unravel the experiences and passions that drive our talented team. Meet Nick: co-founder, coder, and outdoorsman.

News

The Gnar Company Selected as a Clutch Top 1000 Global Services Provider in 2023

The Gnar Company is thrilled to announce its inclusion in the Clutch 1000 list for the second consecutive year.

Engineering Insights

Gnarly Learnings from September 2023

Turbo from the perspective of React devs, the value proposition of web components, and current trends in serverless computing.

Engineering Insights

Building AI Apps with Elixir: ElixirConf 2023 Discussions

Discussion around "Building AI Apps with Elixir" an intriguing presentation from Charlie Holtz at ElixirConf 2023.

Engineering Insights

Programming Languages: Executive Summary

What is a programming language? Just as we use human language to communicate with other humans, we use programming languages to communicate with machines.

News

The Gnar Company Named a Clutch Top 1000 B2B Global Leader for 2023

The Gnar Company is pleased to announce that it has been recognized as a 2023 Global Award winner for Web and Mobile Software Development services on Clutch.

Engineering Insights

Gnarly Learnings from August 2023

At The Gnar we are always reading, watching, and listening in order to keep our skills sharp and our perspectives fresh. Here are some of the resources we learned from this month.

News

Meet the Gnarnians: Ethan

In this series, we unravel the experiences and passions that drive our talented team. Meet Ethan, our resident beekeeper with a green thumb.

Engineering Insights

Bun JavaScript Runtime First Look

Let's explore Bun: a speedy new JavaScript runtime combining a bundler, transpiler, package manager, and script runner all-in-one.

News

Meet the Gnarnians: Mike

Meet Mike.

Engineering Insights

Product Is Not Working: 10 Signs Your Product is Failing (And How to Solve Them) [2026 Guide]

Is your custom software struggling? Here are 10 signs of technical debt, from frequent crashes to slow product development, and a guide on how to solve them in 2026.

Engineering Insights

How to Select a Partner Who Delivers Value, Not Inputs

It's not a secret that you need great engineers to build great products. But great engineers are expensive. And cheap engineers aren't great.

News

Gnarly Learnings from July 2023

At The Gnar we are always reading, watching, and listening in order to keep our skills sharp and our perspectives fresh. Here are some of the resources we learned from this month.

Engineering Insights

Anything Can be Used for File Storage if You Use it Wrongly Enough

I recently came across the most excellent blog post "Anything can be a message queue if you use it wrongly enough."

Engineering Insights

How Generative AI Impacts Software Development at The Gnar

It would be difficult to make it through a day without hearing, reading, or seeing something related to Artificial Intelligence (AI).

News

Meet The Gnarnians: Erik

Meet Erik.

Engineering Insights

Metaprogramming in Ruby: Advanced Level

This post is the third in a series focused on the application of Ruby metaprogramming.

Product Insights

Should You Hire a Development Agency or Build an In-House Team? A Complete Guide

Deciding between a software development agency and an in-house team? Compare costs, speed, flexibility, and expertise to find the right fit for your project. Includes cost breakdown and decision framework.

Engineering Insights

Gnarly Learnings from June 2023

At The Gnar we are always reading, watching, and listening in order to keep our skills sharp and our perspectives fresh. Here are some of the resources we learned from this month.

News

Meet The Gnarnians: Taylor

Meet Taylor.

News

Using an Agency to Augment Your Software Engineering Team and Scale Your Organization Efficiently

In this blog post, we discuss how outsourcing your software engineering enables your organization to stay leaner, longer. We also share best practices to facilitate a successful partnership.

Engineering Insights

Gnarly News April 2023

The software development landscape is constantly changing. Here are some headlines that caught our attention recently.

Engineering Insights

Metaprogramming in Ruby: Intermediate Level

This post is the second in a series focused on the application of Ruby metaprogramming.

News

The Gnar Company Named to Clutch 100 List of Fastest-Growing Companies for 2023

The Gnar Company is please to announce that it has been recognized as one of the top 100 fastest-growing companies on Clutch.

Engineering Insights

Gnarly Learnings from May 2023

At The Gnar we are always reading, watching, and listening in order to keep our skills sharp and our perspectives fresh.

News

Meet The Gnarnians: Erica

Meet Erica.

Engineering Insights

Practical State Machinery

As abstractions go, finite state machines represent a bit of low hanging fruit when you have real world problems to solve.

Product Insights

Design Systems: What They Are and Why You Need One

When properly implemented, a design system provides a lot of benefits not only to design teams but development teams as well.

Engineering Insights

Gnarly Learnings from April 2023

At the Gnar we are always reading, watching, and listening in order to keep our skills sharp and our perspectives fresh. Here are some of the resources we learned from this month.

News

Gnarly News March 2023

The software development landscape is constantly changing. Here are some headlines that caught our attention recently.

Engineering Insights

Gnarly Learnings from March 2023

We love reading, watching, and listening in order to keep our skills sharp and our perspectives fresh. Here are some of the resources we learned from this month.

Engineering Insights

Gnarly News February 2023

The software development landscape is constantly changing. As a software consultancy, it's our responsibility to keep our finger on the pulse of the industry.

Engineering Insights

How to Plan a Software Release: A Complete Deployment Playbook

Learn how to create a software release playbook that prevents deployment failures. Includes step-by-step checklist, rollback procedures, and best practices from engineers who've shipped 100+ production releases.

Engineering Insights

Gnarly Learnings from February 2023

We love reading, watching, and listening in order to keep our skills sharp and our perspectives fresh. Here are some of the resources we learned from this month.

Engineering Insights

Postgres Full Text Search

Postgres is a humble workhorse with powerful features waiting to be unlocked.

Engineering Insights

Gnarly News January 2023

The software development landscape is constantly changing. As a software consultancy, it’s our responsibility to keep our finger on the pulse of the industry. Here are some headlines that caught our attention recently.

Engineering Insights

Ruby to the Rescue for Error Handling

Though we frequently use the terms "throw" and "catch" when discussing error handling, we must be careful in Ruby to use the more accurate terms "raise" and "rescue".

Engineering Insights

Gnarly Learnings from January 2023

We love reading, watching, and listening in order to keep our skills sharp and our perspectives fresh. Here are some of the resources we learned from this month.

Engineering Insights

Gnarly Learnings from December 2022

We love reading, watching, and listening in order to keep our skills sharp and our perspectives fresh. Here are some of the resources we learned from this month.

Engineering Insights

Metaprogramming in Ruby: Beginner Level

This post is the first in a series focused on the application of Ruby metaprogramming. If you're just starting to learn about metaprogramming, this is a great place to get started.

News

Our Favorite Posts of 2022

In 2022 we resumed meeting in person, we pumped the brakes on crypto, we watched the World Cup, we tried to purchase Taylor Swift tickets.

Engineering Insights

Gnarly News December 2022

The software development landscape is constantly changing. As a software consultancy, it's our responsibility to keep our finger on the pulse of the industry. Here are some headlines that caught our attention recently.

News

Gnar Company Selected as a Clutch Top 1000 Global Service Providers in 2022

Our commitment to delivering value for our clients has earned The Gnar Company a spot in the Clutch Top 1000 companies for 2022!

Engineering Insights

Gnarly News November 2022

The software development landscape is constantly changing. As a software consultancy, it's our responsibility to keep our finger on the pulse of the industry. Here are some headlines that caught our attention recently.

Engineering Insights

What Is the Point of Free and Open Source Software? Part 2: Open Source

What is the point of free and open source software (FOSS)? Do we make it for the sake of freedom, or for the sake of expedience? (Or for the sake of our careers?)

Engineering Insights

Gnarly Learnings from November 2022

We love reading, watching, and listening in order to keep our skills sharp and our perspectives fresh. Here are some of the resources we learned from this month.

Engineering Insights

Enum Types in Postgres

This is another in the series "Yeah, Postgres can do that."

Engineering Insights

How We Foster Open Dialogue Through Intentional Feedback

Does the phrase "annual review" make you tense up? Or do you find yourself relaxed, maybe even excited with the anticipation of new opportunities?

Engineering Insights

Gnarly Learnings from October 2022

We love reading, watching, and listening in order to keep our skills sharp and our perspectives fresh. Here are some of the resources we learned from this month.

Engineering Insights

Gnarly Learnings from August 2022

We love reading, watching, and listening in order to constantly update our skills and learn new perspectives.

Engineering Insights

Gnarly News October 2022

The software development landscape is constantly changing. As a software consultancy, it's our responsibility to keep our finger on the pulse of the industry.

Engineering Insights

Our Code Review Process: More than Quality Assurance

Just like writers during the editing process, programmers review each other's work, provide feedback, and work together to create a more refined, higher-quality end product.

Engineering Insights

Navigating Session Token Authentication in Shopify for Embedded, Server-Side Rendered Rails Apps

Recently we built an embedded Shopify application for one of our clients.

Engineering Insights

Gnarly Learnings from September 2022

We love reading, watching, and listening in order to keep our skills sharp and our perspectives fresh. Here are some of the resources we learned from this month.

Engineering Insights

History Tracking With Postgres

It's no secret among my colleagues that I'm a huge fan of Postgres.

Engineering Insights

Infinite Scroll React Example with TypeScript and NextJS

For the uninitiated, infinite scroll (otherwise known as endless scroll) refers to a method of automatically loading data when a user scrolls to the bottom of their screen, allowing them to continue browsing content with minimal effort.

Engineering Insights

Buzz Off, FizzBuzz!: How We Interview at The Gnar

Generic engineering challenges like FizzBuzz are the worst. If you’re a developer, you may have groaned reading the last sentence, and we sympathize. If not, here’s the scoop.

Engineering Insights

Exploding Consulting Myths: Support

The job of a software consultant is exciting and dynamic

Engineering Insights

What is the point of free and open source software?

At the risk of a big opening: Free and open source software (FOSS hereafter) is utterly pervasive.

Engineering Insights

Make Yourself Accessible: Legacy Rails Applications

This is the third in a three-part series on "what accessibility actually looks like when you're implementing it in a Rails app."

Engineering Insights

Deconstructing DeFi

Even if you consider yourself crypto-savvy, and maybe even have money in cryptocurrency, Defi is a complex topic.

Engineering Insights

Make Yourself Accessible: New Rails Apps

Adding accessibility checks to an application.

Product Insights

Make Yourself Accessible: Why It Matters

We all live different lives and experience different kinds of constraints.

Engineering Insights

Managing Shopify App Extensions Across Environments

The challenge of managing extensions across environments stems from the way in which Shopify apps are developed, and the restrictions around Theme App Extensions.

Engineering Insights

Hotwired Modals

We can use Hotwire (specifically, Stimulus and Turbo) to create some modals that present a nice, dynamic user experience.

News

Gnar named Top Mobile App Development Company

The Gnar Company is pleased to announce Design Rush has named it a Top Mobile App Development Company In Massachusetts.

Engineering Insights

Figurative Literals: Sharpen your Strings

Our task was to write a program that could accept a number or string, reject non-number-like strings, and then add 2 to given value.

Engineering Insights

Validating Views with Capybara Queries

Validating Views with Capybara Queries

Engineering Insights

Gnarly technology predictions for 2022

Gnarly technology predictions for 2022

News

The Gnar Company Recognized as One of the Most Reviewed Mobile App Development Companies in Boston

At The Gnar, we provide clients with mobile app solutions that deliver compelling, on-the-go experiences across platforms.

Engineering Insights

Paying Down Technical Debt

We aim to help you understand not only what technical debt is, but how to identify it, and how and when to resolve it.

Engineering Insights

Overloading Functions for Type Harmony

Overloading Functions for Type Harmony

Engineering Insights

Local Services with asdf and foreman

Local Services with asdf and foreman

Engineering Insights

The Gnar Quality Software, Faster™ Process

The Gnar Quality Software, Faster™ Process

Engineering Insights

Communication Culture at the Gnar

Communication Culture at the Gnar

News

Top-Ranked Custom Software Company Expands Design Capabilities with Merger

Top-Ranked Custom Software Company Expands Design Capabilities with Merger

Engineering Insights

Business School for Engineers at RailsConf 2021

Business School for Engineers at RailsConf 2021

Engineering Insights

STDIN Stream Processing Using Crystal Concurrency

STDIN Stream Processing Using Crystal Concurrency

Engineering Insights

Understanding Observables in RxJS

Do you want a different way to handle state in your Javascript applications?

Engineering Insights

Reintroducing You to The Gnar: What We Believe

Reintroducing You to The Gnar: What We Believe

Engineering Insights

Gnarly Learnings from November

Here are some of the exciting pieces we learned from this month.

Engineering Insights

Gnarly Learnings from September

A sampling of our favorite resources we learned from this month

Engineering Insights

Gnarly Learnings from October

A sampling of our favorite resources we learned from this month

News

Clutch Named The Gnar Company as a Top Software Development Company in Massachusetts for 2021

To maintain and run your business, you need business software that addresses your unique challenges and pain points.

Engineering Insights

Hindsight Is 20/20

Gnarly advice for new developers

Engineering Insights

Code Golf: Conditionally Add To An Array

Can you come up with more than four (fore) ways to do this?

News

Gnar Company Awarded ITS74 Statewide Contract by Commonwealth of Massachusetts

The Gnar Company is excited to announce that they have been awarded the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ ITS74 contract.

News

The Gnar's Kevin Murphy Speaking at RailsConf 2019

The Gnar's Kevin Murphy Speaking at RailsConf 2019

News

The Gnar Company named a Top Health and Fitness App Developer

The Gnar Company named a Top Health and Fitness App Developer

News

Top 10 React Native Development Companies That Actually Deliver (2025)

Recognized as a top React Native development company, The Gnar Company provides senior US-based engineers, guaranteed outcomes, and a 12-month bug-free warranty.

News

Torq Interface Selected for 2018 Cohort of PULSE@MassChallenge

Torq Interface Selected for 2018 Cohort of PULSE@MassChallenge

Engineering Insights

Buffered IO Streams In Ruby

The buffer ate my homework

News

TORq Interface wins a B.E.T.A. (Babson Entrepreneurial Thought & Action®​​​​​​​​​​​​​) Award

TORq Interface wins a B.E.T.A. (Babson Entrepreneurial Thought & Action®​​​​​​​​​​​​​) Award

Engineering Insights

RSpec Negated Matchers

To change and to not change, one must change and also not change.

Engineering Insights

Temporary State In Tests: Bloc(k) Party

Turn Bullet warnings into a Silent Alarm

Engineering Insights

Gnarly Learnings from August

A sampling of our favorite resources we learned from this month

Engineering Insights

Gnarly Learnings from July

A sampling of our favorite resources we learned from this month

Engineering Insights

Validate CSV Input With ActiveModel::Validations

BOOK IT! towards using existing framework functionality

Engineering Insights

Gnarly Learnings from June

A sampling of our favorite resources we learned from this month

Engineering Insights

Always Use RESTful Routes

Learn how to optimize your Rails routes for developer happiness.

Engineering Insights

Gnarly Learnings from May

A sampling of our favorite resources we learned from this month

Engineering Insights

RailsConf Roundup 2021

What's in your stack, or playlist?

Engineering Insights

Consistency Conundrum

If the only constant is change, how do we keep our code consistent?

Engineering Insights

ActiveRecord's New Takes a Block, Kid

Hangin' Tough With All The Ways To Initialize An Object

Engineering Insights

Gnarly Learnings from April

A sampling of our favorite resources we learned from this month

Engineering Insights

To Change Or Not To Change

Here are more questions to try to answer THAT question

Engineering Insights

Gnarly Learnings from March

A sampling of our favorite resources we learned from this month

Engineering Insights

Wrapping Up Rails Exceptional Behavior

Putting a bow on our investigation

Engineering Insights

(W)rapping About Exceptional Behavior In Rails

Unwrapping a mystery

Engineering Insights

Gnarly Learnings from February

A sampling of our favorite resources we learned from this month

Engineering Insights

Querying PaperTrail Object Changes in JSON

Reliving the past has never felt so futuristic

Engineering Insights

Gnarly Learnings from January

A sampling of our favorite resources we learned from this month

Engineering Insights

Look Ma, no JWT!

Do you really need JWT in your application?

Engineering Insights

Synthesizing a Composition with Delegation

Orchestrating the sum so you don't need to know the parts

Engineering Insights

Caching All Native Ruby Gem Platforms

Installing nokogiri WITHOUT native extensions

Engineering Insights

Stringing Code Together To Play Music

Anyone Can Play Guitar

Engineering Insights

Using Sonic Pi To Play Music With Ruby

Amplifying the impact of your code

Engineering Insights

Inheritance: Derivative Songwriting

There are only 12 notes to choose from

Engineering Insights

Shedding a Light on Duck Typing

It's time to light the lights

Engineering Insights

Dependency Injection: Plug In

These go to eleven

Engineering Insights

React Native's Animated API

Everything you need to know for production-ready animations.

Engineering Insights

Useful Sidekiq Patterns

Sidekiq workers are awesome, here are a few ways we think you can make them more awesome!

Engineering Insights

Committing code at The Gnar Company

Commit this to memory...

Engineering Insights

How to Properly Eager Load Associations

Eager loading data is great...unless ActiveRecord is requerying anyway

Engineering Insights

ActiveRecord Cannot Read Minds

ActiveRecord: 60% of the time, it understands you every time

Engineering Insights

The last record: according to whom?

The last record isn't necessarily the one with the highest id

Engineering Insights

Database Queries vs Database Results

Your Rails console makes it look like your code is doing more than it is

Engineering Insights

An Introduction to Firebase's Cloud Firestore: Part II

How Firebase's query rules try to be scalable by default

Engineering Insights

An Introduction to Firebase's Cloud Firestore: Part I

Snapshots, Documents, and References, oh my!

Engineering Insights

How To: Make Your React Native App Work With The iPhone X Screen

One weird trick to get your React Native app to utilize the full screen of the iPhone X

Engineering Insights

When Systems Can't Agree on the Truth

You're on an island where knaves lie and only knights tell the truth...

Product Insights

Design and Discovery Part II

The sequel

Engineering Insights

Retrospectives @ The Gnar

A casual environment for continuous company improvement.

Engineering Insights

React Component Comparison

Component? PureComponent? FSC? React.memo? Which should I use!?

Engineering Insights

Optimizing Database Performance with Rails and Postgres

Small changes to give your app a boost.

Engineering Insights

PR Review Process

A value-add for clients and source of continued learning for the team.

Engineering Insights

Factories, RSpec stubs, database queries, and you

What to do when your user isn't really your user

Product Insights

Best Practices in Product Engineering

Key practices to enhance product engineering processes.

News

Challenges in Product Engineering

Identifying common challenges faced in product engineering.

News

The Future of Product Engineering

Insights into the evolving landscape of product engineering.

Engineering Insights

Product Engineering 101

An introduction to the fundamentals of product engineering.

Engineering Insights

The Role of Product Engineering

Exploring the importance of product engineering in modern businesses.