Balkan Ruby is about the long term

Balkan Ruby, the website, is a Ruby on Rails app we started at the end of 2023 so we can sell the 2024 conference tickets ourselves. The marketing part (what you see) was a simple, static site powered by plain ERB HTML templates and data in YAML files. That was good – you should always start with something simple. But, when we ran Balkan Ruby 2025 and Ruby Banitsa conf, at times simultaneously, we realized that the static files could only take us so far, and we needed a proper way to host multiple events. We've done this incrementally and now have a decent back-office to add events, lineups, ticket types, sponsorship packages, and more. It's not perfect yet, but it's getting better.

Around my birthday, I got the idea to offer a one-day promotional event and highlight it with a banner at the top of the website. We had a scrappy banner system before that worked, sort of. However, it was static, and now that we have all resources in a database, I decided it's time for this announcement system to become a first-class Balkan citizen.

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Let's start with the data model. I wanted the announcements to be bound to an event, have a presentational message, and have only one active announcement per event. The "one announcement per event" is the interesting constraint of the domain. We can do it in application code, but this does not offer the same guarantees as a database constraint will. Databases support partial indexes nowadays (even SQLite, which we use), and that's where we can define this constraint.

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To prevent the need for application code validations, I wanted to have a UI action that can only activate one announcement at a time. This UI constraint makes the code simpler – when we activate an announcement, we can deactivate the previous one, and because of the database constraints, we don't need to know which one this is. We can simply deactivate all announcements for the event and activate the new one.

[2]

And voila, an evening of code to produce a solid announcement system that fits my Balkan Ruby needs for years to come. Keep it simple, y'all!

[3]

Hey, Ruby friends! We're pumped to reveal our speaker lineup for Balkan Ruby 2025 in Sofia! This year, we're all about the long term – exploring how Ruby powers sustainable codebases, careers, and communities.

Maintaining & Evolving

• Julia López shares practical lessons from maintaining a 20-year-old Rails monolith at Harvest
• Denitsa Belogusheva brings insights from a 16-year project journey
• Jeremy Smith tackles managing transitional states in long-lived applications

Open Source Sustainability

• Jasveen Sandral dives into building for forever in Ruby Core
• Martin Verzilli reflects on 13 years nurturing the Crystal programming language
• Andrey Sitnik (PostCSS creator!) delivers a vision for privacy-first architecture

Growing & Adapting

• Paweł Strzałkowski shows why creativity remains the essential skill after 20+ years
• Michał Łęcicki explores how handling mistakes shapes long-term success
• Bozhidar Batsov celebrates Ruby's enduring influence and timeless principles

Building Better

• Stanislav Vasilev and Franz Fischbach introduce CodeTracer, a time-traveling Ruby debugger
• Plus talks from Yaroslav Shmarov and Stefan Kanev adding more long-term perspective!

All expertly guided by our returning MC, Tsvetelina Borisova, who did such a fantastic job keeping the energy high last year!

Join Your Ruby Family in Sofia!

Balkan Ruby isn't just the code or the jug of Rakia (we have changed) – it's the community we've built together.

Meet the faces behind your favorite gems, share survival stories, and find inspiration for your next decade of Ruby development.

Check our website for tickets and details. Regular tickets are now available at the same low early bird prices! Plus, all discount codes we've shared on our social media are still valid, so grab yours today!

See you in Sofia! 🇧🇬 ❤️ 💎

We’re excited to announce that Balkan Ruby 2025 will take place at WTC Interpred in Sofia, Bulgaria, on April 25-26, 2025!

Why WTC Interpred?

WTC Interpred is one of Sofia’s most iconic business and conference centers, known for its professional event spaces and excellent accessibility. This year, we’ll be gathering in the Sofia Hall, a spacious venue with a modern stage, great acoustics, and plenty of room for our growing Ruby community. Whether you're here for the talks, the hallway track, or just to connect with fellow Rubyists, this venue will make sure we’re all comfortable.

Getting there

WTC Interpred is easily accessible by metro – hop on Line 1 and get off at Joliot-Curie Station. From there, it’s just a short walk to the venue. If you're arriving from out of town, Sofia’s metro system connects well with the airport and major transport hubs, making your trip smooth and hassle-free. The Sofia Hall is located on the Interpred's ground floor right behind the main registration desk.

One more thing

Sofia Hall can hold up to 300 people, let's fill it up. We're leaving the Regular ticket price at €120. Oh, and all the discount codes you find on our social media are still valid. Look them up. ✌️

🚀 See you at WTC Interpred!