Running in Production

In this episode of Running in Production, Harry Moreno goes over building a platform with Django that lets you connect with people and find things to do in NYC. It’s hosted on Heroku and has been up and running in production since August 2019.

Harry covers building an API with Django, using React Native for a mobile app, the struggles of learning Kubernetes and how it’s a good idea to validate your idea before trying to code it.

• 3:25 – Measuring key business metrics with OKR and KPI analysis
• 6:25 – Motivation for choosing Django as the back-end for the native mobile app
• 13:29 – From trying to learn GitOps and Kubernetes to using Heroku in the end
• 17:53 – Using Django templates, Django REST Framework and Websockets
• 28:29 – They are using PostgreSQL and Heroku’s APS for background jobs for now
• 33:00 – Using (1) Heroku hobby Dyno and aiming for a 90+ Lighthouse score
• 38:57 – Using the first paid plan of Heroku’s PostgreSQL and a few Heroku add-ons
• 49:23 – Interesting Python / Django packages used to help build this service
• 55:23 – The process of getting a feature developed locally and pushing it to production
• 1:04:13 – Uploading user files to S3 and working on an automated test suite
• 1:11:42 – Best tips? Try to validate your idea before coding it to completion
• 1:14:55 – Check out https://litt.nyc/, they are on Instagram / Twitter too

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OKR
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performance_indicator
• https://stackoverflow.com/q/61552070
• https://developers.google.com/web/tools/lighthouse
• https://12factor.net/

• django →
• python →
• react →
• bootstrap →
• heroku →
• papertrail →
• postgres →
• pusher →
• s3 →
• sendgrid →

• https://github.com/encode/django-rest-framework
• https://pypi.org/project/django-geo/
• https://github.com/evansd/whitenoise
• https://github.com/psf/black
• https://github.com/boto/boto3

This episode does not have a sponsor and this podcast is a labor of love. If you want to support the show, the best way to do it is to purchase one of my courses or suggest one to a friend.

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